Presentation Plus! Human Heritage: A World History
Copyright © by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
Developed by FSCreations, Inc., Cincinnati, Ohio 45202
Send all inquiries to:
GLENCOE DIVISION
Glencoe/McGraw-Hill
8787 Orion Place
Columbus, Ohio 43240
CHAPTER FOCUS
SECTION 1 The Beginnings
SECTION 2 Christianity and Rome
SECTION 3 The Church
CHAPTER SUMMARY & STUDY GUIDE
CHAPTER ASSESSMENT
3
Click a hyperlink to go to the corresponding section.
Press the ESC key at any time to exit the presentation.
Overview
• Chapter 16 describes the rise of Christianity
and its impact on the Roman Empire. 
– Section 1 discusses the origins of
Christianity. 
– Section 2 describes the difficulties
Christianity faced in a hostile Roman
society. 
– Section 3 explains the organization of
the Roman Catholic church.
4
Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display
the information.
Objectives
After studying this chapter, you will be able to:
• explain how Jesus’ life and teachings
formed the basis of Christianity. 
• trace the spread of Christianity. 
• explain how the early Christian church was
organized. 
• discuss the relationship between
Christianity and Roman society before and
after the time of Constantine I.
5
Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display
the information.
Read to Discover
• How Jesus’ life and teachings formed the
basis of Christianity 
• How Christianity spread throughout the
Roman Empire 
• How the early Christian church was
organized 
• What relationship existed between
Christianity and Roman society before
and after the time of Constantine I 
• What life was like for the early monks
and nuns
6
Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display
the information. The Chapter Focus is on page 247 of your textbook.
Terms to Learn
• scriptures 
• messiah 
• gentiles 
• missionary 
• churches 
• apostles 
• priest 
• bishop 
• heresy 
• monks 
• nun 
7
People to Know
• Jesus 
• Paul 
• Constantine I 
• Theodosius 
• Jerome 
• Augustine 
Places to Locate
• Bethlehem 
• Nazareth 
• Jerusalem
Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display
the information. Click the Speaker On button to listen to the words.
Why It’s Important
Just as the Romans influenced the lives of
people they conquered, these people
influenced the lives of the Romans. Among
those who brought new ideas and important
changes to the Roman Empire were the
Christians. Their religion, Christianity,
started in Palestine among the Jews and
later spread throughout the empire and the
world. Despite cruel treatment, the early
Christians clung to their faith, and by 400
A.D. most Romans had come to accept the
religion as their own.
8
Click the Speaker On button to replay the audio.
The Beginnings
• Christianity is based on the life and
teachings of Jesus, who lived in Palestine
during the reign of Augustus. 
• Christianity survived the fall of Rome and
grew to be one of the major influences on
western civilization.
10
Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display
the information. Section 1 begins on page 247 of your textbook.
The Life of Jesus
• Jesus, born a Jew in the town of
Bethlehem, grew up in Nazareth. 
• There, he received a Jewish education,
studied the scriptures, or sacred writings,
and learned prayers in the Hebrew
language. 
• Later, he went to work as a carpenter. 
• When he was about 30 years old, Jesus
began to travel around Palestine
preaching to people.
11
Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display
the information.
The Life of Jesus (cont.)
• Jesus said that God loves even people who
have sinned, and that if they were truly
sorry and placed their trust in God, they
would be forgiven. 
• He presented his teachings in parables, or
stories, about persons and things that
were familiar to his listeners. 
• In 30 A.D., after about three years of
preaching, Jesus and 12 of his disciples
went to Jerusalem to celebrate Passover,
the holiday that marks the exodus of the
Jews from Egypt.
12
Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display
the information.
The Life of Jesus (cont.)
• The Jews were tired of the high taxes they
had to pay and of the pressure put on them
by the Romans. 
• When Jesus arrived in Jerusalem, many
Jews greeted him as the messiah, or
someone who would save them. 
• Jesus was convicted of treason under
Roman law and was crucified, or executed
on a cross, outside Jerusalem. 
• Then, according to Christian tradition, Jesus
rose from the dead and remained on Earth
for 40 days before going directly to heaven.
13
Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display
the information.
The Life of Jesus (cont.)
• His resurrection, or rising from the dead,
convinced his disciples that Jesus was the
Son of God who had become man. 
• From then on, the disciples called him
Christ, after the Greek word Christos,
meaning "messiah."
14
Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display
the information.
Paul
• The disciples were among the first people
to become Christians. 
• After Jesus died, the disciples spread his
gospel, or teachings, among the Jews in
and out of Palestine. 
• Soon, small groups of people who
believed in Christ were meeting in
Antioch, Corinth, Rome, and other trading
cities of the Mediterranean area.
15
Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display
the information.
Paul (cont.)
• At about the same time, a Jew named Paul
decided to teach Christianity to gentiles,
or non-Jews, as well as to Jews. 
• Paul had once been a close follower of
Judaism. 
• In each city where Paul preached, new
Christian communities formed. 
• Paul wrote letters to these groups to help
guide the members.
16
Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display
the information.
Paul (cont.)
• Paul was very important to the growth of
Christianity. 
• He was its first missionary, or person
who spreads religious beliefs to those
who do not believe.
17
Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display
the information.
Section Assessment
Why did the Romans charge
Jesus with treason?
The Romans charged Jesus with
treason because many Jews greeted
him like the messiah, which
threatened the power of the Roman
emperor.
18
Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display
the answer.
Section Assessment (cont.)
What changes did Paul make in
the Christian religion?
The gentiles who became Christians
did not have to follow Jewish rituals
and laws but needed only to have
faith in Jesus.
19
Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display
the answer.
Section Assessment (cont.)
Demonstrating Reasoned
Judgment Of the people you
know about today, who could be
called a Good Samaritan? Give
examples.
Answers will vary.
20
Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display
the answer.
Section Assessment (cont.)
Draw a diagram like the one on
page 250 of your textbook, and
use it to show some of the
Christian beliefs taught by Jesus.
Sample beliefs are: God created all
people and loves them, people should
behave like God’s children and love
one another, God loves even people
who have sinned, anyone who puts
trust in God will be forgiven, people
should help each other.
21
Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display
the answer.
Christianity and Rome
• The Roman Empire helped Christianity
spread.
• The Pax Romana allowed missionaries to
travel safely. 
• The Roman system of roads helped them
to go from one place to another quickly. 
• Since most people spoke either Latin or
Greek, the missionaries could talk with
them directly.
23
Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display
the information. Section 2 begins on page 250 of your textbook.
Political Conditions
• Political conditions did not favor the spread
of Christianity, however. 
• The Romans expected everyone to honor
the emperor as a god, but Christians, like
the Jews, claimed that only God could be
worshiped.
• The Romans also did not like other
Christian ideas.
24
Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display
the information.
Political Conditions (cont.)
• Christians did not want to serve in the army
or hold public office. 
• Because of these differences, the
Romans blamed and punished Christians
for all kinds of disasters, such as plagues
and famines.
25
Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display
the information.
The Spread of Christianity
• Even with all of the hardships, Christianity
spread and began to draw people from all
classes.
26
Constantine I and Theodosius
• In 312 A.D., Constantine I, who was a
general at the time, accepted Christianity. 
• Constantine believed God had helped him
win the throne of the Roman Empire. 
• Because of this, he ordered his soldiers to
paint crosses on their shields. 
• The following year, the Edict of Milan was
issued. 
• It gave religious freedom to all people and
made Christianity legal.
27
Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display
the information.
Constantine I and Theodosius (cont.)
• Constantine I did many other things to help
Christianity grow. 
• In 392 A.D., Emperor Theodosius made
Christianity the official religion of the
Roman Empire, and he outlawed all other
religions.
28
Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display
the information.
Section Assessment
What factors brought about a
change in attitude between
Romans and Christians?
The Romans grew tired of war and
began to admire the courage of
Christian missionaries and Christian
values. Many Christians started to
accept the empire.
29
Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display
the answer.
Section Assessment (cont.)
Making Inferences Why do you
think the hardships put on
Christians by the Romans could
not stop the spread of
Christianity?
People were tired of the Roman
Empire and its decline. Christianity
was appealing.
30
Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display
the answer.
Section Assessment (cont.)
Draw a diagram like the one on page 252 of
your textbook and use it to show changes
in the relationship between Christianity and
Roman society before and after the time of
Constantine I.
Before: Romans blamed Christians for many
wrongs, banned their religion, killed or
persecuted them, and forbade them from
burying their dead in Roman cemeteries.
After: Christians could worship freely in their
own churches, receive government money for
schools, serve in government, and in some
cases, escape taxes.
31
Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display
the answer.
The Church
• Early Christians thought the end of the
world was near. 
• While they were waiting for Jesus to
return, they lived together in small groups
called churches. 
• Apostles, or those people Jesus chose to
teach his gospel, visited the different
groups to teach, give advice, and provide
a sense of unity.
33
Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display
the information. Section 3 begins on page 252 of your textbook.
Church Structure
• After the apostles died, Christians realized
that Jesus was not going to return to Earth
as quickly as they had expected. 
• By 300 A.D., each church was called a
parish with a leader known as a priest. 
• Several parishes were put together into
larger groups called a diocese, a word that
originally meant a Roman military district. 
• The head of each diocese was called a
bishop.
34
Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display
the information.
Church Structure (cont.)
• The most important bishops were called
archbishops, and they governed churches
in larger cities. 
• The five leading archbishops were called
patriarchs. 
• As time went on, the archbishop of Rome
began to claim power over the other
archbishops. 
• By 600 A.D., he was called Pope, a Latin
word meaning “father.”
35
Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display
the information.
Church Structure (cont.)
• Christians who spoke Latin saw the Pope
as the head of all the churches. 
• Christians who spoke Greek would not
accept him as the leader of their church
and turned instead to the archbishop of
Constantinople. 
• In 1054 A.D., the two groups separated. 
• The Latin churches as a group became
known as the Roman Catholic Church. 
• The Greek churches became known as
the Eastern Orthodox Church.
36
Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display
the information.
The New Testament
• At the same time Christians were
developing a church organization, they
were deciding what writings to put into the
New Testament, or Christian scriptures. 
• At about the same time, bishops met to
discuss questions about Christian thinking. 
• Decisions they reached at these meetings
came to be accepted as official doctrine, or
statements of faith. 
• The points of view the bishops did not accept
were declared to be heresy, or false
doctrines.
37
Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display
the information.
Fathers of the Church
• Between 100 and 500 A.D., different
scholars, known as the “Fathers of the
Church,” wrote works that greatly influenced
later Christians. 
• One such scholar, Jerome, translated the
Old and New Testaments into Latin. 
• Augustine was an important leader of
Christian thought, whose best-known work,
City of God, defended Christianity against
those who said that Rome would not have
fallen if it had not accepted Christianity.
38
Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display
the information.
Monasteries
• In the early years of Christianity, thousands
of Christians left cities to live and pray alone
in isolated areas. 
• Near the end of the 300s A.D., a bishop
named Basil suggested that Christians
should form religious settlements near
cities. 
• Christian men who did as Basil suggested
were called monks and lived in
settlements, or communities, known as
monasteries.
39
Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display
the information.
Monasteries (cont.)
• Christian women who did the same were
called nuns and lived in quarters of their
own called convents. 
• In the West, another set of rules called the
Benedictine Rule was drawn up about 529
A.D. by an Italian named Benedict. 
• The monks who followed Benedict's rule
promised to give up all their possessions
before entering a monastery and had to
obey without question the orders of the
abbot, or leader of the monastery.
40
Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display
the information.
Section Assessment
How was the early Christian
church organized?
It was modeled after the Roman
government. Each church or parish
was led by a priest. Several parishes
formed a diocese headed by a
bishop. The archbishops led city
churches.
41
Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display
the answer.
Section Assessment (cont.)
How did monks help western
civilization survive?
Monks helped western civilization
survive by preserving old Roman and
Greek writings.
42
Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display
the answer.
Section Assessment (cont.)
Making Generalizations What
general statement can you make
about the main purpose of
monastic life?
The main purpose of monastic life is
a desire to do good deeds and set an
example for Christian living.
43
Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display
the answer.
Section Assessment (cont.)
Draw a diagram like the one on page
256 of your textbook, and use it to
compare the lives of hermits with
the lives of monks and nuns.
Both hermits and monks and nuns
followed lives of religious devotion,
and both tried to escape worldly evils.
Hermits, however, lived apart from
society, while monks and nuns tried
to help other people through example
and teaching.
44
Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display
the answer.
Chapter Summary & Study Guide
• Jesus’ teachings angered Roman officials,
who arrested and executed him around 30
A.D. 
• Paul preached Christianity to Jews and
non-Jews alike, helping to make
Christianity a world religion. 
• Some Romans, particularly the emperors,
tried unsuccessfully to stop the spread of
Christianity. 
• In 313 A.D., Christianity became legal in
Rome. In 392 A.D., it became the empire’s
official religion.
46
Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display
the information.
Chapter Summary & Study Guide (cont.)
• By the end of the 500s A.D., early Christians
had organized a church and decided which
writings should appear in the New
Testament. 
• By 600 A.D., most Latin-speaking Christians
looked on the pope in Rome as the head of
the Church. 
• In 1054 A.D., most Greek-speaking
Christians split from the Latin Church to
form the Eastern Orthodox Church.
47
Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display
the information.
Chapter Summary & Study Guide (cont.)
• Religious scholars and monks helped
preserve Greek and Roman writings and
wrote works that greatly influenced later
Christian thinkers.
48
Understanding the Main Idea
Where did Christianity start?
in Palestine among the Jews
50
Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display
the answer.
Understanding the Main Idea
Why did Jesus teach in parables?
so listeners could better understand
his religious principles
51
Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display
the answer.
Understanding the Main Idea
Why did the Romans blame and
punish the Christians for many
disasters?
because the Romans did not like
Christian ideas
52
Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display
the answer.
Understanding the Main Idea
What groups of people were first
attracted to Christianity?
the poor and enslaved
53
Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display
the answer.
Understanding the Main Idea
What legend is told about
Constantine I?
he saw a flaming cross in the sky
with the words in hoc signo vinces
written beneath it
54
Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display
the answer.
Understanding the Main Idea
Why did Christians develop a
church organization?
to hold their churches together while
they waited for Jesus to return to
Earth
55
Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display
the answer.
Understanding the Main Idea
Why did the Latin and Greek
churches split into two groups?
because the Greek Christians would
not accept the Pope
56
Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display
the answer.
Understanding the Main Idea
What kinds of work did the monks
do?
They attended religious services,
worked in the fields, and did clerical
work, carpentry, and weaving.
57
Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display
the answer.
Critical Thinking
Why do you think people seemed
to remember Jesus’ teachings
more when he used parables?
Stories are easy to remember.
58
Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display
the answer.
Critical Thinking
Do you think citizens should have
religious freedom or be required to
follow one official religion? Explain.
59
Critical Thinking
What do you think could have been
done to prevent the split between
the Latin and Greek churches?
60
Critical Thinking
Would you have been interested in
becoming a monk or nun in 600 A.D.?
Explain.
61
Geography in History
Place Refer to the map on page 251
of your textbook, noting Paul’s
journeys. Describe what geographic
features and landscape Paul would
have seen as he traveled from
Antioch to Corinth.
As Paul traveled from Antioch to
Corinth overland he would encounter
arid land, seacoast, mountains,
islands, and a peninsula. Traveling by
sea, he would have viewed the same
features.
62
Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display
the answer.
Two Romans are talking. One states
“If the winter of 406 had been milder,
the empire would not have fallen.”
The other claims, “No. The winter
had no effect. The empire was
doomed.” With whom do you
agree? Why?
63
Explore online information about the
topics introduced in this chapter.
Click on the Connect button to launch your browser and go to the Human
Heritage: A World History Web site. At this site, you will find interactive
activities, current events information, and Web sites correlated with the
chapters and units in the textbook. When you finish exploring, exit the
browser program to return to this presentation. If you experience difficulty
connecting to the Web site, manually launch your Web browser and go to
http://www.humanheritage.glencoe.com
65
66
30 A.D.
312 A.D.
1054 A.D.
Jesus is
crucified by
Romans
Constantine I
accepts
Christianity
Latin and Greek
churches
separate
64 A.D.
392 A.D.
Romans ban
Christianity
Christianity
becomes official
religion of Roman
Empire
Click the mouse button or press the Space Bar to display
the information.
Saint Augustine
354 A.D.–430 A.D.
Christian Scholar
Augustine was born in present-day
Algeria. In 387 A.D., he embraced
Christianity. As invaders poured into
Rome, Augustine became one of the
leading defenders of Christianity. After
his death, church leaders declared him
a saint.
67
End of Custom Shows
WARNING! Do Not Remove
This slide is intentionally blank and is set to auto-advance to end custom
shows and return to the main presentation.