[Apologetics] Sign From Heaven? Meteor Changed History

Thu Dec 7 18:26:12 EST 2006

Art,

  You make some good points.  I simply discounted the speculations since they were made by the secular media.

  Dianne

Art Kelly <arthurkelly at yahoo.com> wrote:
  Thanks, Dianne.

This is somewhat interesting, but the speculation
that:

What if the meteor hadn't streaked through the sky
above Italy on that day just before that decisive
battle? 

Constantine might have lost the battle without the
divine inspiration he used to his advantage to become
the victor.

If Constantine did not become emperor, Christianity
would not have received state patronage. 
The establishment of the papacy in Rome may never ever
happened.

is all WRONG!

The Papacy in Rome had existed since the 1st Century:

St. Peter (32-67) 
St. Linus (67-76) 
St. Anacletus (Cletus) (76-88) 
St. Clement I (88-97) 
St. Evaristus (97-105) 
St. Alexander I (105-115) 
St. Sixtus I (115-125) -- also called Xystus I 
St. Telesphorus (125-136) 
St. Hyginus (136-140) 
St. Pius I (140-155) 
St. Anicetus (155-166) 
St. Soter (166-175) 
St. Eleutherius (175-189) 
St. Victor I (189-199) 
St. Zephyrinus (199-217) 
St. Callistus I (217-22) 
St. Urban I (222-30) 
St. Pontain (230-35) 
St. Anterus (235-36) 
St. Fabian (236-50) 
St. Cornelius (251-53) 
St. Lucius I (253-54) 
St. Stephen I (254-257) 
St. Sixtus II (257-258) 
St. Dionysius (260-268) 
St. Felix I (269-274) 
St. Eutychian (275-283) 
St. Caius (283-296) -- also called Gaius 
St. Marcellinus (296-304) 
St. Marcellus I (308-309) 
St. Eusebius (309 or 310) 
St. Miltiades (311-14) 
St. Sylvester I (314-35)

It is true that most of these early Popes were
persecuted and a considerable number were martyed.
Nevertheless, they did exercise worldwide jurisdiction
over the Catholic Church.

Here are some examples:

Pope Clement (88-97) wrote to the Church in Corinth in
the year 96 to tell them to make changes in their
attitudes and practices. The Early Church On-Line
Encyclopedia (Ecole) Initiative, a cooperative effort
on the part of Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant
scholars across the Internet to establish links of
early Church history, says "This letter is important
because it indicates that the author was acting has
the head of the Christian Church and that it was
centered in Rome." 

Pope Victor (189-199) ordered Easter to be celebrated
throughout the world on Sunday, rather than on the
14th Nisan, whichever day of the week it happen to
fall. All of the churches adopted Easter Sunday except
those in Asia Minor. Pope Victor then excommunicated
all the bishops in Asia Minor. While the Pope
eventually relented in the excommunication, no one
ever suggested that he did not have the authority. 

Pope Calixtus (217-222) overruled those bishops who
excommunicated for life all apostates, adulterers, and
murderers, regardless of their repentance. The Pope
decreed that all sinners with contrition could be
absolved and received back into the Catholic Church. 

After Pope Cornelius (251-253) was elected, he was
faced with an antipope, Novatian, who promptly went
about trying to consecrate bishops throughout the
world who would be loyal to him. Naturally, this
created tremendous uncertainty and confusion wherever
Novatian tried to create false bishops over the heads
of the legitimate bishops. This unequivocally shows
the power of the Pope as the recognized leader of the
worldwide Catholic Church. 

Pope Stephen (254-257) removed certain bishops in
Africa for heresy. Later he overruled a synod of
African bishops which wanted to rebaptize lapsed
Catholics returning to the faith. The Pope made it
very clear he was in charge and eventually prevailed
in this matter. 

Pope Dionysius (260-268) reprimanded Bishop Dionysius
of Alexandria for misstatements on the Trinity. The
Bishop then followed the Pope’s guidance. 

Pope Sylvester (314-335) did not attend the First
Council of Arles (314), thinking it unbecoming for him
to leave Rome. Following Arles, the bishops there
commended him for not leaving the spot "where the
Apostles daily sit in judgement." He repeated this
example at Nicaea, which his successors followed in
the councils of Sardica (343), Rimini (359), and the
Eastern ecumenical councils. At Nicaea, Pope Sylvester
sent two priests as his legates, who helped preside
over the sessions and who were the first to sign the
cannons. 

If Constantine had never converted to
Christianity--acutally, he was not baptized until many
years later when he was near death--the history of the
Church might have been different in that priests,
bishops, and the faithful may have had to suffer much,
much more.

But Constantine's semi-conversion did not affect the
institution of the papacy.

Art

--- Dianne Dawson wrote:

>
http://channels.isp.netscape.com/whatsnew/package.jsp?name=fte/meteorchangedhistory/meteorchangedhistory&floc=wn-nx
> 
> Sign From Heaven? Meteor Changed History 
> A team of Swedish geologists has found what it
> believes is the crater made by a meteor that
> streaked across the sky and crashed into the Earth
> in 312 AD. If they're right--and carbon dating has
> already backed them up on it--this is a meteor whose
> presence may have changed the history of the world,
> asserts the BBC News Online.
> The scene: Central Italy in the year 312 AD.
> The main character: Constantine, who was preparing
> to invade Italy in a battle with Maximinus Daia for
> control of Rome.
> The plot: A celestial vision that changed history.
> Before the battle, Constantine looked heavenward
> and saw a blazing light streaking through the sky.
> He interpreted the shocking sight to mean only one
> thing: It was a message from the Christian God, a
> kind of celestial vision. Constantine immediately
> converted to Christianity. He ordered his soldiers
> to paint the "Chi-Ro" symbol of Christ on their
> shields. 
> Eusebius, who was one of the Christian Church's
> early historians, wrote about the conversion of
> Constantine. He described the vision as a "most
> marvelous sign" and "a trophy of a cross of light in
> the heavens above the Sun, and bearing the
> inscription 'conquer by this.'" 
> The battle for Rome was very lopsided. Maximinus'
> troops defending the city were four times as strong
> in number as Constantine's troops. But Constantine
> was the victor, and he became the Roman emperor. He
> ordered that persecution of Christians cease and
> gave Christianity official status--a big boost for a
> fledgling religion.
> Fast forward to 2003: The Swedish geologists, led
> by Jens Ormo, located the crater that they say was
> formed by the impact of a meteor as it slammed into
> the Earth. Radiocarbon dating places it around the
> year 312 AD. 
> Ormo speculates that Constantine's celestial
> vision was actually that meteor. Such meteors occur
> only once every few thousand years, but Constantine
> had no way of knowing this. Ormo told the BBC News
> that the meteor would have smashed into the Earth
> with the force of a small nuclear bomb and would
> have been accompanied by a mushroom cloud and
> shockwaves.
> And here is where the BBC News ponders this
> fascinating question: What if the meteor hadn't
> streaked through the sky above Italy on that day
> just before that decisive battle? 
> 
> Constantine might have lost the battle without
> the divine inspiration he used to his advantage to
> become the victor. 
> If Constantine did not become emperor,
> Christianity would not have received state
> patronage. 
> The establishment of the papacy in Rome may never
> ever happened.
> 
> 
> Like a deer that longs for running waters so my soul
> longs for you, O God.
> 
> Ps 42:1
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> __________________________________________________
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ART KELLY, ATM-S
13524 Brightfield Lane
Herndon, Virginia 20171-3360
(703) 904-3763 home
arthurkelly at yahoo.com
art.kelly at cox.net
ArtK135 at Netscape.net

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Like a deer that longs for running waters so my soul longs for you, O God.

Ps 42:1

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