Talk:Constantine IV

Mr President, "Eastern" Orthodox was a meaningless distinction in the seventh century. The Eastern Orthodox churches in their current forms only date to the eleventh century. Before that you had a strand of Christianity from which both the modern EO and RCC split (and Protestantism--in fact, almost every sect of Christianity in vogue today traces back to this branch, except the Unitarians). This strand rallied (and its descendants continue to rally) around the belief that Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are all equally God. It was defined mainly in opposition to the Aryan heresy, though I don't remember whether the Aryans were around in the 7th century--I believe they were, but I'd have to check. They (the proto-Catholics, proto-Orthodox) were inclined simply to call themselves Christians most of the time, pressing an exclusive claim to Christianity, but when drawing distinctions became necessary they referred to themselves with quite a few modifiers, including both orthodox and catholic, whatever was most useful at the moment.

Putting our Constantinian friend into Category:Christians is probably the safest bet. Turtle Fan 17:20, January 12, 2010 (UTC)