Ancient Rome and the Rise of
Christianity
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Christianity
-Early on in Pax Romana, a new
religion, Christianity emerged
in a distant corner of the
-Romans
Empire allowed Jewish
people
to worship
their one
-Many different
religions
in the
god
empire
-By
63 B.C.,
hadlived
-Many
Jews Romans
reluctantly
conquered
Judea
most
under Roman
rule,where
however,
Jewish
peoplealived.
some wanted
revolt against
Rome and believed a messiah
would come to lead their
people to freedom
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Jesus
-Born in 4 B.C. in Bethlehem
-worshipped God and followed Jewish law
-at 30 began preaching to villagers, used parables-short
stories with simple moral lessons to communicate his
ideas
-Recruited 12 disciples to help him spread his ideas,
called apostles, in Jerusalem
-Some Jews in Jerusalem welcomed Jesus, many of the
priests felt he threatened their leadership
-Roman authorities felt Jesus would lead the Jews in a
revolt against their rule
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Death of Jesus
-According to the gospels,
Jesus was betrayed by one
of his disciples, arrested by
the Romans, and killed by
crucifixion-a person was
bound to a cross and left to
die
-Rumors then spread that
Jesus had not died but had
risen from death and
commanded his disciples to
spread his teachings
-After the disciples reported
he ascended into heaven
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Christianity Spreads
-Followers called Christians
-Disciples preach the messages
of Christianity throughout the
Roman world
-Peter established Christianity
in
itself
HeRome
spread
Christianity
-Paul
playedthe
the most
throughout
influential
role in spreading
Mediterranean
Christianity
-His letters became part of
the New Testament in the
Bible
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Christians Oppressed
-Romans were not tolerant towards Christians
because:
-they refused to honor the emperor with
sacrifices
-they refused to worship Roman gods to
protect the state
-Christians were used as scapegoats, blamed for
social and economic problems
-Many Christians became martyrs- or people who
suffer or die for their beliefs
-However, Christianity continued to spread due to
the fact that all people were welcome
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Early Christian Church
-Emperor Constantine issued the Edict of Milan in A.D. 313.
-The Edict granted
freedom of
worship to all
citizens of the
Roman empire
-By the end of the century, Emperor Theodosius made
Christianity the official religion of the Roman empire
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Structure of the Church
The Christian Clergy
Pope/Patriarch
Bishop
Diocese
Priest
+
Community
Bishop
Diocese
Priest
+
Community
Bishop
Diocese
Priest
+
Community
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27 BCE -14 CE
Reign of Emperor Augustus. Augustus was the first Roman ruler to
be worshiped as a son of a god
4 BCE
Jesus of Nazareth is born.
6 CE
Territories of Judea, Samaria, and Idumea come under direct
imperial control as the Roman province of Judea.
26-30 CE
Ministry of John the Baptist
30 CE
Death of Jesus
Jesus' early followers from Galilee settle in Jerusalem. They are
30 CE and later
known as "the Twelve."
60-65 CE
Death of Paul
64 CE
Great Fire in Rome; Nero blames and executes Christians
66-70 CE
First Jewish Revolt against Rome. A feud between Jewish and Greek
factions in the city of Ceasarea leads to fighting that quickly spreads
throughout the region.
155 CE
Martyrdom of Polycarp, bishop of Smyrna and younger colleague
and admirer of Ignatius of Antioch.
203 CE
Martyrdom of Perpetua in Carthage
249-251 CE
First major persecution of Christians under emperor Decius
312 CE
Battle of Milvian Bridge; Constantine adopts Christ as his patron
and defeats his rival Maxentius to become sole ruler of Italy, Africa,
and the entire western half of the empire.
313 CE
Edict of Milan. An agreement between Constantine, ruler of the
West and Licinius, ruler of the East, that assured full restitution of
all confiscated Christian property and full rights for Christian
worship in both halves of the Roman empire.
324 CE
Constantine defeats Licinius in a battle near Adrianople. He now
becomes ruler of the entire Roman empire. He moves the eastern
capital from Nicomedia to Byzantine, henceforth known as
Constantinople.
Christianity
Use the timeline from the left to answer the questions below.
_____1. Who blamed the Christians for the Great Fire in Rome?
a. Augustus
b. Nero
c. Constantine
_____2. What year had more than one thing happen?
a. 30CE
b. 64CE
c. 327 CE
3. In 324 CE who became the ruler of Roman Empire?
_______________________________________________
4. What was agreed in 325 CE?
_______________________________________________
_____5. Who died first?
a. Constantine
b. Jesus
c. Paul
_____6. What resulted from a feud between Jewish and Greek
factions?
a. Roman War
b. Council of Nicea c. First Jewish Revolt
_____7. When did Constantine adopt Christ as his patron?
a. 312 CE
b. 313CE
c. 324 CE
8. What year was Jesus born?______________
325 CE
Council of Nicea attempts to resolve theological differences among
church factions. It is agreed that Christ was both fully human and
fully divine.
9. What year did Paul die?______________
327 CE
Death of Constantine
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10. What year did John the Baptist start his ministry?__________
Jesus – The Question of Christianity
The followers of Jesus, who don't go away as they're supposed
to, have to deal with a fundamental question….what does this
mean that the one that we had all of these expectations about has
been crucified? How do we deal with this, not merely the end of
this life, but the shameful end of this life through crucifixion which
is used for slaves? The amazing thing is, they said, "Hey, Pilate's
right - he was the King of the Jews, and moreover, God has
vindicated this claim, that he is the King of the Jews, by raising him
from the dead." Now, this is where the Jesus movement (which is
to become Christianity) begins with trying to explain that hard fact.
The first interpretation is okay, "Pilate killed him but God raised
him from the dead". That's the very beginning of it all. That is an
act of interpretation, that is to say, "this wasn't final."
A second bit of interpretation is to say, yes, "King of the Jews,"
what could this mean? It obviously does not mean, "King of the
Jews," in the way that Bar Kochba would try to be King of Israel and
restore the political kingdom of Israel, liberated from the Romans.
It couldn't mean that, so what does it mean?
The early Christians, as proper Jews, begin to search the
scriptures, [looking for] what clues are hidden here which no one
has noticed before. They begin to find promises in scripture of an
anointed king who will come at the end of days, a notion which
they share with many other Jews, at the same time.
So, this is where it all begins, with this kind of interpretive
process, which of course goes in many different directions.
_____1. Why was crucifixion a shameful death?
a. Because it was public
b. Because it was used for slaves
c. Because it was painful
_____2. Trying to explain what “hard fact” is the beginning of the
Jesus movement?
a. God raising Jesus from the dead
b. Pilate’s reason for crucifying Jesus
c. That Jesus was crucified by Pilate
_____3. One interpretation of the crucifixion is “this wasn’t final”.
What does this refer to?
a. Pilate killed him but God raised him from the dead
b. Pilate’s right – he was the King of the Jews
c. Christianity will go away
_____4. One interpretation of the crucifixion says Jesus is the
“King of the Jews”. What does this mean?
a. That he was an actual King of Israel
b. That he was an anointed king who came
c. That he would replace Pilate
_____5. Who tried to be King of Israel and restore the political
kingdom of Israel?
a. Bar Kochba
b. Jesus
c. Pilate
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The
Resurrection
The Story of the
Resurrection
The Roman governor Pontius
Pilate ordered Jesus to be
executed by crucifixion. After
Jesus died, his body was taken
down from the cross and a
huge stone was placed in front
of the tomb where he was
buried. On the 3rd day after
his execution, according to the
Gospels, some of the followers
reported that the stone had
moved and the tomb lay
empty. These accounts of
Jesus’ resurrection, or return
to life, proved to many of his
followers that he was divine
(the son of God).
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