A Sol Invictus Christmas - Syncretism for the sake of unity

Part 1 - Tolerance

A gold multiple of "Unconquered Constantine" with Sol Invictus, struck in 313 AD.

Note the Battle of Milvian Bridge, where Constantine supposedly had a vision from the Christian God, occurred in 312AD. If Constantine converted to Christianity in this moment why would he continue minting coins that reinforce his right to rule by the authority of a pagan god? In the gold coin you can clearly see the battle of Milvian Bridge depicted on the shield. So what god then did he see while looking into the sun? Sol as depicted on the same coin, a god who is associated with the Greek god Apollo. Why also would he continue to erect monuments to pagan gods, ie; the giant archway leading into Constantinople, dedicated in 315AD, which has no Christian references on it whatsoever, yet depicts his victory at Milvian Bridge?

There is evidence that Constantine became more involved in the church in his later years but this does not preclude the lie about his supposed conversion in 312. Why would historians write such things? Perhaps because the emperor was their patron and loyalty was more important to them than the truth. Perhaps because that same emperor had the kind of character that would have his own son and wife killed and then attempt to erase all record of them from history, so why not them and everyone they hold dear?

Remember this coin and the title "Unconquered Constantine". It is useful in studying Roman religious festivals and their connection to modern holidays. Specifically the reference on the Roman calendar to "Natalis Invicti" (meaning birthday of the unconquerable one) in 336AD, which is hotly debated as evidence for or against Christmas, depending on the side you take and the evidence you weigh. The argument for Christmas states that Sol Invictus is a separate holiday in October and is unrelated to Natalis Invictus, which is probably a reference to Christ since this same calendar marks Christ's birthday as the same day. The problem with that is Sol is the "unconquerable one" and Constantine is making a statement about that here, claiming power in that god's name. It was common for Roman emperors to do that. Sol means "sun" and the fact that his name was changed from Apollo to Sol is revealing the Roman ecumenical desire to generalize the worship of the sun. It was not long before they conflated this with the worship of the "Son" of God. The reason the sun is so important to pagans is that it is a visible source of life. Without it we would not exist. The winter solstice is important in pagan religions because it is the time when the days are the shortest in the year, when the sun "dies" and is reborn. It is unconquerable.

The accuracy of the date of Christ's birth (as well as the attempt to date it to begin with) is another topic of discussion for a later time but this is clear evidence of the Romans having typical pagan celebrations on December 25th. This is a piece of evidence to take note of as we explore the history of Christmas further. For now we need to finish the foundation of why we even need to consider this subject.

The next point to note is Constantine's goal of unity, and not just Constantine but the men of high power in his kingdom. The Edict of Milan, which was written by those men and signed by Constantine and Licinius, was supposedly issued in 313AD. It was declaring forced tolerance of all religions, of which Christianity was an addendum. Although Christians were probably the most persecuted people at the time, especially in the eastern part of the empire, the edict was meant to legitimize ALL religions.  This itself is an assumption because no such edict was ever found. The only sources are two versions included in works by Lactantius and Eusebius. Each man's account of what it said differs. What we can glean though is that it was not "legalizing Christianity" in those certain terms but rather an ecumenical statement of religious decriminalization so people can worship who they please. Constantine was not the first to do this. Galerius did the same in 311. Note two specific statements that are recorded by Lactantius and Eusebius. They reveal the motives of this edict.

"It directed the provincial magistrates to execute this order at once with all energy so that public order may be restored and the continuance of divine favour may 'preserve and prosper our successes together with the good of the state.'"

"When you see that this has been granted to [Christians] by us, your Worship will know that we have also conceded to other religions the right of open and free observance of their worship for the sake of the peace of our times, that each one may have the free opportunity to worship as he pleases; this regulation is made that we may not seem to detract from any dignity of any religion."

Most people say that Constantine actively promoted Christianity after converting in 312 but where is the evidence of this? It appears that it was all a matter of tolerance for the sake of order, as is stated above. A strong kingdom is not divided within. He certainly understood that. Our leaders today certainly understand that and they use it to their advantage. They divide and create conflict in order to direct the storm. "Order out of chaos" is the philosophy of Gnostic, Neo-Platonic Luciferians. They will use any means necessary to achieve what they consider to be a "noble" cause. They will lie, cheat, steal and kill if it means something "good" will come out of it. Most of these political, religious, educational and economic leaders are VERY convincing too.

"In fact, a time is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is offering a service to God. They will do these things because they have not known the Father or Me." John 16:2-3

Constantine was no loyalist to his previous gods. His patron god before Sol was Mars. Who knows what his motives were in waiting to be baptized until he was practically on his death bed (I'd guess to have his bases covered with all the biggest gods, especially the up-and-coming popular One?). From the evidence I've seen it is clear he was more concerned about unity than religion. This is the spirit of Babylon. At this point I'll remind you to read Revelation 17:17 to see what God thinks of this way of thinking and what He is doing about it to this very day.

Why is this important to understand? Because the history you've been told is probably a lie. History is often written and revised by victorious conquerors and those who support them. People are dooped into believing lies and carry them forward as unquestionable traditions - traditions of MAN, not God.

The picture that hides under the surface of a prettied up painting reveals bits and pieces of a larger narrative that has been at work since the "dawn of man." If you can understand this then you will have a better understanding of the working of the powers of this age, including the rulers of the present day. All the greatest rulers of nations and empires employ the use of propaganda as a form of indoctrination in order to gain more power. It is the basic premise of the art of war, which is not fought on the battle field but in the mind.



EDITS and ADDITIONS:

It is clear from the 313AD coinage and the 315AD archway into Constantinople that Constantine saw Sol (which means "sun") in the sun. Anyone who overlooks this evidence, whether from seminary or not, is ignoring the truth. The reasons for Constantine's embrace of Christianity is clear from the evidence we have in the writings of Lactantius and Eusebius about the Edict of Milan (a document that was supposedly kept safe in the official library of Constantinople, yet is nowhere to be found today). The goal was unity, not truth - to have an undivided empire that would rule the world. I won't say that Constantine didn't develop a desire to explore Christianity and even support it but saying what he did was the turning point for Christianity (at least in a positive light) is unfounded. It was a turning point which established a base for church and state to rule unquestionably, just as the Roman Empire had always done. Syncretize and assemilate, like Babylon as well. The end goal was always the New World Order, if I may use that term retrogressively. Christianity was merely the convenient vehicle for that goal. I won't even question that those who called themselves Christians really thought they were doing right and good, but the problem is Christianity was already corrupt at that point, so much so that they didn't even understand the basic doctrine of who Christ was. They had to hold councils to try and figure it out. Both Christ and Paul warned this would happen and it did. Isn't it also interesting that Constantine named the new Roman capitol after himself? Makes sense when you understand the history of Roman Emperors associating themselves with gods and seeing Constantine doing this very thing on his coinage.

Keep in mind that at this point Christian liturgy was evolving to be Catholic in nature, a word not officially used as a title for the church until later. This means that they were participating in mass, specifically the Eucharist, which today very much resembles sun worship. We don't know what it looked like at that time but we can see what it became. The beginning of the Catholic Church was more accurately here, not with Peter or the other 1st or 2nd century writers who used the prepositional or adjective term "kath holos." The evidence that the Catholic Church integrated elements of sun worship into Christianity is still present today.

"But Sunday is the day on which we all hold our common assembly, because it is the first day on which God, having wrought a change in the darkness and matter, made the world; and Jesus Christ our Saviour on the same day rose from the dead. For He was crucified on the day before that of Saturn (Saturday); and on the day after that of Saturn, which is the day of the Sun, having appeared to His apostles and disciples, He taught them these things, which we have submitted to you also for your consideration."
Justin Martyr -- The First Apology of Justin
http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/justinmartyr-firstapology.html

Is that not conflating pagan sun worship with Christianity? This statement shows that Justin Martyr related pagan ideas to the Sunday mass. Is what he is saying here not assigning meaning where none was instructed by our Savior or His apostles? Is it not inventing traditions according to the logic of men? So, if we can conclude that syncretization was happening in the church and that the new church and state were converging to become a new form of dictatorship then we can certainly see what happened over the course of history up to the modern day is for the purpose of world domination - dominion theology.

I wrote all of this mainly to make the point that everything we know about history must be examined with spiritual eyes. We must, as judges with God's indwelling Spirit (assuming you have the Spirit), rightly divide and weigh all evidence as we diligently search out the truth. If we can, by the grace of God, see through the wool that has been pulled over our eyes then we can unravel the mess that has been made of the truth and walk firmly towards the light of our Salvation. This is a good starting point for understanding the true motives of the powers that God has allowed to reign on earth. Syncretism, ecumenism, universalism... all are foundations for building up the walls of Babylon. We are not called into Babylon. We are called out of her.