Christianity is a very important religion that is practiced by almost a third of the world’s population today. So why was this religion able to grow so much during ancient times? Inspired by Jesus Christ over two thousand years ago, Christianity faced several barriers along its road to prevalence in the world. During his lifetime, Jesus preached the Word of God until Roman officials felt threatened and eventually crucified him. After his death, however, Jesus’ apostles kept up his legacy and continued to preach God’s Word. WEven while competing with many other gods and cults, the religion of Christianity had many factors that captivated crowds and made it stand out. Christianity gradually rose to prominence in the ancient world thanks to its …show more content…
“This religion is saying that every person, man, woman, child, slave, barbarian, no matter who, is made in the image of God and is therefore of enormous value in the eyes of God,” (Document C). Feeling like everyone is equal was a huge contribution to the rise of Christianity because the message is attractive to people who felt like their lives did not have value. In contrast to the Roman gods who were depicted as powerful emperors, humans were made in the image of the Christian God, making him feel more personal and equal to us. Referring to the Christians, Helmut Koester says, “here is a community that invites you, which makes you an equal with all other members of that community,” (Document D). Christianity was alluring to people in the ancient world because it allowed people even on the bottom of the social pyramid to have a connection with God. In addition, anyone could become a Christian, giving everyone personal dignity. Furthermore, every Christian member was equal and cared for each other no matter what. Along with the enticing idea of being treated as equals in the Christian community, the religion provided a better option to Roman …show more content…
A chart which compares Roman ideology and Christianity states that the difference between the two is “peace through violent victory and peace through nonviolent justice,” (Document E). Christianity was a better option for people because it has a better concept of peace. Christianity’s idea of peace does not involve violence, but rather fairness and justice. In contrast, the Romans tended to fight wars to “establish peace” by taking control of land so things could be “quiet and orderly.” However, that was not true peace, it was only fearful compliance with the law. Moreover, Rome had a strict hierarchical system that was not ideal for every citizen. A passage from the documentary, From Jesus to Christ, states, “if you’re at the bottom of that social pyramid, not a whole lot of things are coming down to you anymore,” (Document D). The emperors were the direct connection to the Roman gods and their blessings because they were at the top of the status pyramid. Christianity supplied a superior alternative to the Roman beliefs because it leveled the playing field and allowed everyone fair and equal relationships with God. Unfortunately, Roman officials were not enthusiastic about Christianity’s rise in popularity. A letter written by Pliny the Younger explains his decision to execute several Christians for refusing to buy offerings for the Roman gods (Document G). Christians
Which proves that his dislike of the Christians was logical because of how much the emperors meant to the
Christians believe that if you follow the bible, do not sin, and follow God, all that you need will be provided for you, according to the New Testament of the Christian Bible, from Matthew 5 (Doc. 9). As said in an excerpt from Genesis 17 of the Old Testament (Doc. 10), God came down to a man named Abram, made his the father of many nations, ones that are fruitful and with many kings, re-named him Abraham, and made of of his descendants gods, with the land of Canaan, and him as their god. The impact of Christianity on Rome was both the ease of travel and single language introduced by the Roman Empire helped the Christians to rapidly spread the word of God. They built more roads for this. Judaism has a wide array of beliefs, based on the individual.
It did, however, sound very appealing to those in Rome, and in the end did play a large role in how Pax Romana was founded. “I am obliged both to Greeks and non-Greeks, both to the wise and the foolish.” (The Bible Romans 1) It was an appealing religion and honestly, that is why it was so appealing to join the Roman Empire. Christianity helped to expand the empire and hold it together.
Short-term impacts on the Roman culture after Constantine made Christianity an accepted religion in the Roman Empire For many years , the Roman Empire advocated that all the people had to adhere to its principles and teachings strictly. The teachings strongly rejected other religious groups and beliefs that could have interfered with its regime. Evidently, the Roman Empire observed and worshiped some deities that were condemned by the Christians. The deities signified different aspects of the religion and in the human lives.
However, over time this also changed. For the Romans, the introduction of Christianity did not seem like a big deal until it started to spread like wildfire. Christianity directly opposed many of the ideas and ways that the Romans lived. For the Greeks, there was this overall loss of religion after the wars (Lecture 8). The Greeks turned from religion to logic and reason.
Eventually, though, Christianity began to spread throughout the oppressed social groups in Rome. The Roman leaders saw Christianity as a religion disloyal to the emperor because they would not worship him as a God, and the government began persecuting Christians. It wasn’t until Constantine came into power that Christianity was not only legalized but became the Roman Empire’s official
In the first and second centuries, the persecution was only sporadic, but by the third and fourth centuries, some emperors put in place systematic persecutions to try to wipe away Christianity (Duiker and Spielvogel 2015, 152). This persecution stemmed from the fact that the Roman government “interpreted Christian refusals to sacrifice to the Roman state gods acts of disloyalty” (Sizgorich 2017). The Roman government viewed Christians as harmful and disloyal because in the Roman faith, people considered the emporer a god, and the Christian belief in one God undermined the authority and credibility of the emperor (“Fall”). Denying the Roman faith also led the Roman government to view Christianity as a sort of uprising or rebellion. To counter this, some emperors of the third and fourth centuries enacted systematic persecutions, but by this time, persecution could not destroy Christianity, as it was too strong (Duiker and Spielvogel 2015, 152).
Even though Christians were persecuted on and off during the Roman Empire, Christianity flourished. In the early Roman Empire, when Claudius, Nero, Domitian, and Trajan were emperors, Christianity was banned and Christians were persecuted. Nevertheless, Christians found ways to spread Christianity, and many people converted. As trials occurred and the Empire lost good leaders, the people took security in Christianity and other religions. Christianity grew during the Roman Empire because Constantine helped create the Edict of Milan, Constantine had imperial favor toward The Church, and there was trade routes to spread Christianity to different areas.
Secondly, all the perquisites of Christianity meant that kings could claim legitimated power from God and its prestigious international
The views on Christianity throughout Rome changed immensely from the early years of the empire through the fourth century. For a while, Christians were looked at as a threat to many because of their belief in monotheism. Nero and his followers persecuted and punished the lower class and women who followed Christianity as well as use them as political scapegoats. As time went on, the tolerance for Christianity in Rome grew and Christianity gained acceptance. By the fourth century, Christianity was the official religion in Rome.
During the early Pax Romana, Christianity, emerged and it spread rapidly in the Roman Empire. The founder of Christianity was Jesus who used parables with moral lessons to communicate his ideas. Jesus emphasized mercy, sympathy for the poor and helpless, morality, forgiveness, and service to others. Christianity eventually became the official religion of Rome because of its unifying force and the fact that it appealed to all classes in society. The humble, poor and oppressed found comfort in his message of love, equality, human dignity, and promise for a better life.
“and royal edicts were published everywhere, commanding that the churches should be razed to the ground, the Scriptures destroyed by fire...if they persisted in the Christian profession, be deprived of their liberty.” This quote from document D shows how the Romans literally took everything away from the Christians and did everything they could to stop them from spreading Christianity, but no matter what was thrown at them and
“The culture of the Roman Empire had been transformed by a new religion….as Rome had lost power, the old gods, goddesses, and ceremonies no longer were meaningful to many people. Still, priests kept up the temples and continued to make the sacrifices” (Discovery Ed). Christianity took away the value of Rome’s old religion and divided others. People no longer were believing in the same thing which would cause division within the empire. “Christians refused to fight for Rome during a time when soldiers were needed” (Ten Theories Notes).
Christianity is arguably one of the the most influential and important aspects that originated in western civilization. The religion started out as a small sect of Judaism and a man named Jesus spreading his word with a few followers. For centuries, Christians in Rome endured persecution and secret worship. With the appeal of eternal salvation and the hierarchy of the church, Christianity gradually spread, began to rise, and eventually became the prominent religion in Rome. Today, Christianity is the most widely practiced religion in the world.
The existence of Christianity enumerates almost 20 centuries and for this period it made a long way in development and expansion. The Christianity was born in Palestine in the 1st century AD and spread to various corners of the world. Kennedy, P. (2011). Christianity : An Introduction. London: I.B.