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Defending Constantine

The Twilight of an Empire and the Dawn of Christendom
by Peter J. Leithart
Defending Constantine: The Twilight of an Empire and the Dawn of Christendom. IVP Academic: InterVarsity. 2010. 367p. bibliog. index. ISBN 9780830827220. pap. $27. REL
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In this historically informed piece of political theology, Leithart (copastor, Trinity Reformed Church, Moscow, ID; The Four: A Survey of the Gospels) comes to the aid of Constantine, one of the more infamous whipping boys in church history. The first Christian emperor is often a stand-in for tyranny, hypocrisy, heresy, or worse. Against this long-standing tradition, with a particular focus on the late theologian John Howard Yoder's work, Leithart argues that Constantine presents a workable model for Christian political practice. Rome newly baptized may have been in its infancy, but its faith wasn't infantile, and thus invalid, as Yoder claimed. In the end, regardless of whether one agrees with Leithart's own political theology, he deserves credit for placing the theological conversation about "Constantinian" Christianity on firmer historical footing.
VERDICT Aimed at readers more familiar with historian Peter Brown, notable biographer of St. Augustine, than Dan Brown, this erudite work will be of interest to academic seminarians and theologians, as well as those seeking a historically sound Christian interpretation of Constantine. Those interested in history alone, however, would be better served by one of Leithart's own preferred sources, Timothy D. Barnes's Constantine and Eusebius.
Reviewed by Matthew Connor Sullivan, Hallowell, ME , Dec 01, 2010
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