The Donation of Constantine includes a reference to the legend that Constantine was cured of leprosy by Pope Sylvester sometime in the 310s, and then baptized. Constantine is recorded as saying “on the first day after receiving the mystery of the holy baptism, and after the cure of my body from the squalor of leprosy, I acknowledged that there was no other God save the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, as preached by the most blessed Sylvester the pope; a trinity in one, a unity in three.”
Samuel Lieu sardonically comments: “Constantine clearly had no need for an ecumenical council to meet in Nicaea a dozen or so years later to help him formulate his personal Christology.”
Peter Leithart
Peter J. Leithart is President of Theopolis Institute. He is the author of numerous books on theology, literature, and culture, including Theopolitan, Defending Constantine, and Baptized Body.
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