Kutembenuzidwa kwa Constantine—Ku Chiyani?
KUTEMBENUZIDWA konenedwa kwa wolamulira Wachiroma Constantine kwasangalatsa ophunzira achipembedzo kwa nthaŵi yaitali. Molingana ndi nkhani ya iyemwini, pa madzulo a nkhondoyo mu 312 C.E., imene analakika, Constantine wakunjayo anawona masomphenya a mtanda wolembedwapo mawu akuti: “Mwa [chizindikiro] ichi gonjetsa.” Iye “anatembenuzidwa” mwamsanga pambuyo pake (mu 313 C.E.) ndipo analeketsa chizunzo pa Akristu mu ulamuliro Wachiroma. Constantine analimbikitsa omwe unali mtundu wa Chikristu pa nthaŵiyo monga chipembedzo cha Boma, ndipo analoŵerera ngakhale m’mikangano ya m’tchalitchi. Komabe, iye anachitanso machitidwe omwe anakaikiritsa kuwona kwa kutembenuzidwa kwake ndipo sanabatizidwe kufikira pafupi ndi imfa yake zaka 24 pambuyo pake.
M’nkhani ya mu Bible Review, katswiri wophunzira mitundu ya ndalama ndi ziphunzitso zaumulungu Stanley A. Hudson anavumbula mmene kupanga ndalama za makobiri mkati mwa ulamuliro wa Constantine kumathandizira chidziŵitso chochititsa chidwi pa nkhaniyi. Kudzafika m’nthaŵi ya Constantine, kunali kofala kwa makobiri a Chiroma kusonyeza milungu Yachiroma yotchuka. Koma Hudson anasimba kuti pambuyo pa kutembenuzidwa kwa Constantine, zosonyezedwa zachikunja zinawonekera mocheperacheperabe—kusiyapo chimodzi. Makobiri osonyeza Sol, mulungu dzuŵa—yemwe kale anali wokondedwa ndi Constantine—zinapangidwa mu unyinji wokulira. Chifukwa ninji?
Hudson analingalira zifukwa ziŵiri zothekera. Choyamba, kutembenuzidwa kwa Constantine kuyenera kukhala kunali kwa pang’onopang’ono kwambiri—mosasamala kanthu za masomphenya ake ochititsa chidwi. Kapena Constantine m’chenicheni ayenera kukhala anasokoneza Sol kukhala Yesu. Chiphunzitso cha syncretism (msanganizo wa mitundu yosiyanasiyana ya chikhulupiriro) sichachilendo ngakhale lerolino. Mwachitsanzo, mu Latin America, milungu yachikazi ya nthaŵi ya Columbia isadakhaleko yotchedwa Pacha-Mama ndi Tonantzin idakalambiridwabe m’dzina la Namwali Mariya. M’njira yofananayo, Constantine angakhale analambira Sol m’dzina la Yesu.
Chiphunzitso cha syncretism choterocho chikalongosola chifukwa chake December 25, ‘tsiku lakubadwa kwa dzuŵa losagongetseka,’ linasankhidwa kukhala tsiku la kukumbukira kubadwa kwa Yesu. Chikatithandizanso kuwona chifukwa chake pa kobiri yopangidwira kukumbukira imfa ya Constantine pali mawu ozokotedwa akuti “DV Constantinus” (“Constantine Waumulungu”). Ichi chikusonyeza kuti, mosasamala kanthu za kutembenuzidwa kwake ndi ubatizo wa pambuyo pake, Constantine analingaliridwa kukhala mulungu pambuyo pa imfa yake, mongadi mmene analiri olamulira ena achikunja iye asanakhale.
[Mawu a Chithunzi patsamba 7]
The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bequest of Mrs F. F. Thompson, 1926 (26.229)