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[Al Baker]

New to the site.  My apologies if these comments are in the wrong place.  I tried using the e-mail icon, but it does not provide a TO: address.

My comments are on the page about Constantine and The Apostasy.  There are numerous incorrect points of data about Constantine and his rule, etc.  The one that led me to this site is that he “led an army of Christians” to N.Africa to deal with the Donatist crisis.  This unfortunately comes from some errors in the text of Justo Gonzalez.  Here are my comments on Dr. Gonzalez:  “Gonzalez earned his Ph.D. in theology. Just let it be said that I would never attempt to write a text on theology….Gonzalez really should not be authoring texts on Church History. [This example and his poor choice for the “black dwarf” quote on Athanasius give evidence for my harsh view of his inexperience in church history.]

Secondly, he is citing from a text first published in 1903. I found Souttar’s text on an archive site and Gonzalez did cite him correctly. So, I guess we can release Gonzalez from error. <b>No! As a scholar he is responsible for whatever he cites.</b> Souttar, as far as I can tell, does not give any primary source for his commentary on the Donatists…”

I would urge you and your readers to read my article on this particular incident [www.churchhistory101.com/feedback/constantine-against-donatists.php].  I have dedicated the last three years to the study of Constantine as I am writing an eBook on him.  My Ph.D. is in Early Church History from the Church in Acts through the Nicean Council, now through Emperor Constantine.

Another error is regarding the arch erected to honor Constantine’s victory at the Milvian Bridge.  It is true that this monument did not contain overtly Christian symbols, but it was not built by Constantine.  The Roman Senate commissioned it as a surprise and for a salute to Constantine’s victory.   When he came to Rome for his triumphal entry, however, Constantine did not go to the pagan temple of Apollos (I believe it was Apollos) as was customary.  Instead he went directly to a Christian Church with the bishops who were traveling with him to worship the God of Jesus the Christ who (Constantine believed) had given him the victory.  It is noted that this was his first act that put him at odds with the Senate.

You did note that you had collected your info from Google searches.  May I suggest that you use web sites  written by scholars – it will keep errors like this from getting replicated.  Obviously I like to suggest Church History 101.

Thank you.
Al Baker, Ph.D.
churchhistory101.com

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