“Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

So said the English historian Lord Acton in this now famous quote.

Reflecting on Acton’s words, the philosopher Dallas Willard provided his own version…

“I don’t think power corrupts. It makes corruption apparent.”

To Willard, power doesn’t take an innocent person and turn them into an authoritative monster. He says power shines a light on an already existing corruption in every heart.

I think he’s right.

Apparent Corruption

The truth is, there is corruption in every human heart. It’s called sin, our built-in inclination to reject God’s (agape) love in favor of our own.

Power isn’t necessarily sinful. God is powerful and uses that power for good ends. 

But to wield power is far from easy.

Power is tough to handle and if you think the Church always does it perfectly, well…

For roughly the first three hundred years of its existence, the Church was a small group living within the Roman Empire. Though they steadily grew over the years, the simple reality is that they held little to no authority in those early years.

In the 4th century, however, things changed.

The Milvian Bridge

A significant leap forward came at the Milvian Bridge in 312 when the Roman Emperor Constantine defeated his rival Maxentius for control of the Empire.

What led Constantine to victory? Well, according to him, a vision where Jesus instructed him to go forth and “conquer” the enemy. Constantine did just that and, sure as you’re born, the battle was won and the Empire was his.

And so Rome became Christian.

Constantine’s conversion saw the Church encounter a drastically new crossroads in its history. For the first time in nearly three hundred years, the Church now had institutional power. No longer were they on the fringes, now they were front and center.

What would be the result of this change? Would the Church be able to handle all they received? Or would they crumble under the pressure?

Church and state merged. Power had arrived and made corruption more than apparent.

Whether or not Constantine knew it, what happened at the Milvian Bridge that day would create a spike in power that resulted in the brutal erosion of the Church’s agape.

It’s that very erosion we’ll explore in more detail tomorrow.

For now, be blessed.

Jon,

Theophilus Newsletter