Ep 1359 | From Constantine to Miss Kay: Faithful Mothers Shape the History of the World

Unashamed with the Robertson Family

Tread Lively

Religion & Spirituality, Religion, Christianity

4.9 • 24.7K Ratings

🗓️ 19 June 2026

⏱️ 50 minutes

🔗️ Recording | Apple Podcasts | RSS

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Summary

Al, Zach, John Luke, and Christian connect the hidden influence of faithful mothers from Constantine’s mom to Miss Kay with the way one unknown believer can change history through a single faithful conversation. The guys look at Constantine’s complicated legacy, from the Nicene Creed and the spread of Christianity to his violent family history and deathbed baptism. They also connect ancient Rome’s struggle over faith, power, and paganism to modern America’s temptation to make Jesus smaller than politics, party loyalty, personal peace, or cultural identity. In this episode: 1 John 4, verse 8; 1 John 4, verse 10; John 1, verses 1–14; Philippians 2, verses 5–11; 1 John 2, verses 18–23; 2 John 1, verse 7; John 17, verse 3; Acts 17, verse 24 Today’s conversation is about Lesson 10 of Ancient Christianity taught by visiting Hillsdale Professor of History Kenneth Calvert. Take the course with us at no cost to you! Sign up at http://unashamedforhillsdale.com/. More about Ancient Christianity: Christ entered the world during the reign of Caesar Augustus. The tensions between Christianity and the Roman Empire shaped the daily practice of the Christian faith and led many Romans to distrust and persecute the early Christians. But Christianity also benefitted from the Roman world. And when Rome collapsed in the West, Christianity provided the hope for preserving civilization. In this free, eleven-lecture course, Professor Kenneth Calvert will explore: How the Jewish, Greek, and Roman cultures all contributed to preparing the world to hear the Gospel. Why many Romans distrusted and persecuted the early Christians. The inspiring stories of Christ, His apostles, and faithful ones throughout the first four centuries of Christianity. The arguments of key early Christian apologists—Ignatius, Irenaeus, Justin, Athanasius, and more—who defended and defined the Christian faith amidst the animosity of the Roman world. The conversion of Constantine and how he brought stability to Rome, and how the rivalry between his sons almost returned Rome to paganism. How Augustine’s writings helped preserve the message of Christianity during the collapse of the Roman Empire in the West. You will discover the uncertainties, trials, and triumphs of the earliest Christians as they confronted controversies within the faith and persecutions from outside it. Join us today to discover the improbable and miraculous story of Christianity. Sign up at ⁠http://unashamedforhillsdale.com/ Check out At Home with Phil Robertson, nearly 800 episodes of Phil's unfiltered wisdom, humor, and biblical truth, available for free for the first time! Get it on Apple, Spotify, Amazon, and anywhere you listen to podcasts! https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/at-home-with-phil-robertson/id1835224621 Listen to Not Yet Now with Zach Dasher on Apple, Spotify, iHeart, or anywhere you get podcasts. Chapters 00:00 Constantine’s Mom & the Holy Sites 06:07 Unknown Christians Who Changed History 12:09 Constantine’s Deathbed Baptism 16:57 A Violent Empire After Constantine 23:20 Arianism, Paganism & the Fight over Jesus 28:17 Politics without God Turns Tyrannical 34:04 America’s Debt to the Nicene Creed 39:14 Athanasius Stands for the Incarnation 44:10 Jesus Is Bigger Than Any Government — Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	I am unashamed. What about you?
0:06.2	All right. Welcome back to the Unashamed podcast. We are back in our Hillsdale study,
0:11.9	unashamed for Hillsdale.com. You can take the courses free with us. We are on lecture number 10 in ancient Christianity.
0:19.7	We've been talking about Constantine, and now we're going to talk about some of his kids and how
0:24.5	things really, they get hairy in the early, early part of the church. But you guys
0:28.8	can take the course with us. Go to Unashamed for Hillsdale.com. It's good
0:32.6	to be back. Good to see you guys again. Great to see you again. I will
0:36.6	say, I will give a quick disclaimer that I thought this was the hardest lecture we've taken.
0:41.2	So far.
0:42.0	Number 10?
0:42.6	Yes.
0:43.4	Well, the kids are a little confusing.
0:45.5	The kids name, it was really just the names.
0:48.1	It was the Constantine the second and then Constantinianus and then Constantinus.
0:53.6	So, and you mentioned after we wrapped the last podcast
0:57.1	that we neglected to mention Constantine's mom. Helena, Helena, Helena, Helena. She had a pretty big
1:05.8	role. I was trying to find my notes. Yeah, she identified and restored Bethlehem, Golgatha, and the tomb of Jesus.
1:13.3	Right.
1:13.9	Because in the lecture, they talked about how it had been buried, which actually ended up preserving it.
1:20.3	The attempt was to cover it up for nobody to know.
1:23.1	But again, you talk about the power of God through situations and people.
1:30.0	The idea was, yeah, we're going to make sure nobody knows about this stuff to try to hide it,
	...

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