From: Jonathan Bartley, "Easter and Anarchy," Guardian, 7 April 2009
Easter was also the time when baptisms would happen – that Christians too were 'raised with Christ'. It was the clearest symbol that the allegiance of early Christians did not lie with the state. This was the point at which a new citizenship of God's Kingdom was embraced, one which challenged all other forms of citizenship, and most notably that of Rome. It committed them to a set of values and behaviours, and a way of living which was often at odds with the social and political norms of the Empire. Christians called it 'the Way.'
But in the Fourth century, this presented a problem for the emperor Constantine who was intent on marrying Christianity with the power
that had often been its persecutor. The death of Christ was a bit embarrassing. And it wasn't just that the emperor was running the empire which had put the founder of the faith to death. The way of Christ - loving enemies, forgiving and turning the other check - was particularly ill suited to the business of Government. Baptism threatened allegiance to a state that needed to wage war, imprison and torture.
It was Constantine more than any other who set in motion in the Western Church the events what would turn Easter on its head, and neutralise its subversive dimension....
The emperor Theodosius a few decades later finished the job when he made baptism a requirement of Roman citizenship, rather than a challenge to it. From being a mark of a different way of life, baptism became a mark of allegiance to social and political norms. Taking part in Jesus' resurrection now meant collusion with those who had put him to death.... full article
Jonathan Bartley is co-director of Ekklesia, a think-tank that promotes transformative theological ideas in public life.
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