Editing Resurrection of Jesus (section)

===Late Antiquity and early Middle Ages===
Following the [[Constantine I and Christianity|conversion of Constantine]] and the [[Edict of Milan]] in 313, the [[First seven Ecumenical Councils|ecumenical councils]] of the 4th, 5th and 6th centuries, that focused on [[Christology]], helped shape the Christian understanding of the redemptive nature of the resurrection, and influenced both the development of its iconography and its use within Liturgy.<ref>''The resurrection and the icon'' by Michel Quenot 1998 {{ISBN|0-88141-149-3}} p. 72</ref>

Belief in bodily resurrection was a constant note of the Christian church in antiquity. [[Augustine of Hippo]] accepted it at the time of his conversion in 386.<ref>''Augustine: ancient thought baptized'' by John M. Rist 1996 {{ISBN|0-521-58952-5}} p. 110</ref> Augustine defended resurrection, and argued that given that Christ has risen, there is resurrection of the dead.<ref>''Augustine and the Catechumenate'' by William Harmless 1995 {{ISBN|0-8146-6132-7}} p. 131</ref><ref>''Augustine De doctrina Christiana'' by Saint Augustine, R. P. H. Green 1996 {{ISBN|0-19-826334-1}} p. 115</ref> Moreover, he argued that the death and resurrection of Jesus was for the salvation of man, stating: "to achieve each resurrection of ours, the savior paid with his single life, and he pre-enacted and presented his one and only one by way of sacrament and by way of model".<ref>''The Trinity'' by Saint Augustine (Bishop of Hippo.), Edmund Hill, John E. Rotelle 1991 {{ISBN|0-911782-96-6}} p. 157</ref>

The 5th-century theology of [[Theodore of Mopsuestia]] provides an insight into the development of the Christian understanding of the redemptive nature of resurrection. The crucial role of the sacraments in the mediation of salvation was well accepted at the time. In Theodore's representation of the [[Eucharist]], the sacrificial and salvific elements are combined in the "One who saved us and delivered us by the sacrifice of Himself". Theodore's interpretation of the Eucharistic rite is directed towards the triumph over the power of death brought about by the resurrection.<ref>''Adventus Domini: eschatological thought in 4th-century apses and catecheses'' by Geir Hellemo 1997 {{ISBN|90-04-08836-9}} p. 231</ref>

The emphasis on the salvific nature of the resurrection continued in Christian theology in the next centuries, e.g., in the 8th century Saint [[John of Damascus]] wrote that: "...&nbsp;When he had freed those who were bound from the beginning of time, Christ returned again from among the dead, having opened for us the way to resurrection" and Christian iconography of the ensuing years represented that concept.<ref>Vladimir Lossky, 1982 ''The Meaning of Icons'' {{ISBN|978-0-913836-99-6}} p. 189</ref>