Protopresbyter fr. G. D. Metallinos, Professor Emeritus of the University of Athens School of Theology
Source: Transcript of tape recorded topic: Constantine the Great and Historical Truth
Fr. George Metallinos uncovers the conspiracy of the ancient pagans, which persists to this day through neo-Paganists and Protestants.
Fr. George Metallinos uncovers the conspiracy of the ancient pagans, which persists to this day through neo-Paganists and Protestants.
The reason that I chose this day for the presentation of my thesis is the feast of St. Constantine and his mother, St. Helen, which was just two days ago.
The appropriate use of sources
It is a known fact that the stance of historians with respect to Constantine the Great is a contradictory one. For some, his life is an enigma and he himself is a sullen murderer and opportunist, while for others, his life is a huge miracle of History. This is due to the predominance of ideological criteria and a procession of assessments that are devoid of historical sources. Among the worst tragedies in the arena of History, which lead exclusively to the self-abrogation of the historian and his research, is the handling of History at will so that History is thus used to prove events, which History however is baseless and lacking in proof. Another problem is not only the ideological use of History and sources, but historical anachronism. What I mean is that hermeneutical attempts are made on historical events and historical persons within the understanding of the Present, whatever that Present may be. Of course, you know that when someone prepares a historical diatribe, and especially when it is the opus of a certain scholar, it serves as a prologue or a first chapter that is often quoted in the epoch in which the matters and the events are located in history. This situating is extremely needful, spherical from every side, so that a person may infer that his conclusions are undeniable.
It is a known fact that the stance of historians with respect to Constantine the Great is a contradictory one. For some, his life is an enigma and he himself is a sullen murderer and opportunist, while for others, his life is a huge miracle of History. This is due to the predominance of ideological criteria and a procession of assessments that are devoid of historical sources. Among the worst tragedies in the arena of History, which lead exclusively to the self-abrogation of the historian and his research, is the handling of History at will so that History is thus used to prove events, which History however is baseless and lacking in proof. Another problem is not only the ideological use of History and sources, but historical anachronism. What I mean is that hermeneutical attempts are made on historical events and historical persons within the understanding of the Present, whatever that Present may be. Of course, you know that when someone prepares a historical diatribe, and especially when it is the opus of a certain scholar, it serves as a prologue or a first chapter that is often quoted in the epoch in which the matters and the events are located in history. This situating is extremely needful, spherical from every side, so that a person may infer that his conclusions are undeniable.
