Section IV: The Development of Christianity
(Pages 144-147)
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This section is about:
The political background of the
Roman province of Judea
(where Christianity begins).
Some of the teachings and the
crucifixion of Jesus and the
beginnings of a new religion.
The spread of Christianity
throughout the Roman Empire.
Some early disputes in
Christianity.
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First, we need to look at
“Main Ideas” on page
144.
Let’s also look at page
147 (on the bottom):
Critical Thinking (You’ll
get asked that question
again later).
One of the places
Rome’s empire spread to
(in 63 BC) was Judea.
Someone was born there
who grew up to give the
Romans lots of problems.
The Romans worshipped many Gods/Goddesses…
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….who might harm the empire
if they weren’t respected.
This belief was so strong, laws
called for punishments for
disrespect to the Gods.
But Rome didn’t / couldn’t
always enforce laws far from
Rome.
As long as people honored
Roman Gods, they could have
their own.
Judea was a place that was
very Jewish – so they had
their own God.
There were thousands of Roman gods.
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The ancient Romans believed that gods lived everywhere - in trees, under a bush, by the
side of the road, in a burrow, in a flower, in a stream, under the bed, and perhaps even in
the stove in your house. There was even a deity who lived inside the latch that opened the
door to each home.
In ancient Rome, everything had a spirit in charge of it.
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Temples: There were impressive temples all over the Roman Empire. Every day, the
ancient Romans brought offerings of meat and other items to at least one nearby temple.
Usually they visited more than one temple every day.
Household Gods: Each home had a personal household god that kept things running
smoothly at home. Some ancient Romans kept a whole room of their house for a grand
display to honor their personal household god. Others had a small display somewhere in
the kitchen. Whenever the ancient Romans prepared a meal, they ate it in honor of the
household god.
New Gods: Not all of the gods that the ancient Romans worshiped were originally Roman
gods. The Romans did a lot of traveling as they expanded their empire. Each time the
Romans heard a myth about a god or goddess or spirit or deity from the people they met
(and conquered), if they liked it, they adopted it and made it their own.
When they heard about the Greek gods, they adopted nearly all of them! The Roman
changed many of the Greek god names to Roman names. Zeus became Jupiter. Hera was
renamed Juno. But the Romans left their personalities intact.
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Jupiter was the most powerful of the gods. Should he have to bring order, he would hurl
a thunderbolt. Jupiter was not afraid of anyone or anything except perhaps his wife, Juno.
Juno was the sister and wife of Jupiter, and thus, the Queen. Juno was the goddess of
marriage, children, and the home.
Neptune, the lord of the sea, was the brother of Jupiter. Neptune was very powerful. He
could raise his hand and a new island would appear! People were terrified of Neptune,
especially the people who made their home along the coast.
Pluto, another brother of Jupiter, was the lord of the underworld.
Mars, Jupiter's son, was the god of war. He tall and handsome but cruel and vain.
Mercury was Jupiter's son and the messenger of the gods. Things were always going on
in the roman mythical world. The job of messenger to the gods allowed Mercury to have
the inside scoop on just about everything. There was a warmth about Mercury. The other
gods trusted him.
Apollo was Jupiter's son and god of the sun, light and music.
Diana was goddess of the hunt and Apollo's twin sister.
Venus was the goddess of love and beauty.
Hercules was another of Jupiter's sons, although his mother was a mortal. Hercules was
half man, half god, and very strong. Hercules had great adventures, discovered true
friends, and rid the world of some really nasty critters.
Cupid was the son of Venus, the goddess of love. He carried a bow and arrow to shoot
people. When you were shot with Cupid's arrow, you fell in love with the very next person
you saw.
Pandora was the first woman formed out of clay by the gods. Jupiter ordered Vulcan to
create her.
Pegasus was a winged horse who could fly. People were always trying to steal Pegasus,
which caused them no end of trouble!
The Muses were the 9 daughters of Jupiter and Mnomosyne. They made such beautiful
music with their singing that it brought joy to everyone who heard them. The Muses were
patrons of the arts and sciences.
Where do the month names come from?
Name
Comes from
Who or what?
Why?
January
Janus
God of Doors
This month opens the year.
February
februo
purify
This was a Roman month of sacrifices and purification.
March
Mars
God of War
Start of year for soldiers (no fighting during winter)
April
aperire
open
This is the month when trees open their leaves.
May
Maia
Goddess of Growth
This is the month when plants really start to grow.
June
Juno
Queen of the Gods
July
Julius Caesar
Ruler of Rome
He reorganized the calendar.
August
Augustus
Ruler of Rome
He thought he was at least as important as Julius Caesar!
MERCURY Roman Winged Messenger, winged god of travel because he moves so fast
VENUS
Roman Goddess of Love, beautiful
EARTH
MARS
Roman God of War
JUPITER
Chief Roman God (Jupiter is King of the Gods, an elected position)
SATURN
Former Roman God of Agriculture, retired. Replaced by his daughter, Ceres
URANUS
Former Roman God of the Sky, retired. Replaced by his grandson, Jupiter.
NEPTUNE Roman Lord of the Sea
PLUTO
Roman Lord of the Underworld (Pluto is no longer considered a planet.)
Herod the Great was ruling Judea at this time…
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And he was pretty
good at balancing what
the people of Judea
wanted and what Rome
wanted.
Jesus was born
between 5BC and 3BC.
After Herod died (4BC),
the new rulers had to
deal with Judean
rebellions about the
Romans interfering in
their lives.
In 6 AD, Rome sent
new rulers to Judea –
to make sure their laws
were strictly obeyed.
Judea kept on practicing Judaism.
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One of the teachers of
this religion was Jesus –
of Bethlehem.
He was popular and had
many followers.
Jesus taught there was
only 1 God.
But Jesus didn’t
completely follow Jewish
laws – he even called
himself “the son of God.”
This made some of his
own people (the Hebrew
teachers) mad at him.
About 30 AD, the Roman governor
(Pontius Pilate)…
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…found Jesus guilty of
criminal actions.
He was sentenced to
death by crucifixion
-the usual punishment at
the time for criminals.
He was nailed to a cross
and left to die.
His followers believe that
three days after he was
crucified and died, he
came back to life.
The first Christians
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Were 12 “apostles” who were
to help Jesus and spread his
teachings and message.
They started in Judea, and then
spread out to other parts of the
Roman Empire.
Slowly , people began to
believe what they were being
told about Jesus being the
“christos” (Christ/Messiah).
They had to meet secretly, but
celebrated with baptisms (had
sins forgiven), and a sacred
meal called the Eucharist
(a holy meal with Jesus).
Judas Iscariot famously betrayed
Jesus, and committed suicide. The
remaining 11 chose Matthias as his
replacement. Of these 12 - only 1
survived into old age. Rest of the
Apostles were martyred at places as far
as Rome and India.
The early Christian Church
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Had priests as leaders (men).
But… women could also be
members (and could be
teachers/officials).
As Christianity grew, it was
recommended that each city
have it’s own bishop – who
would be the highest church
official in each city.
There would then be a
hierarchy in the Christian
Church (patriarchs – bishops –
priests)
Organization – based on rank
The spread of Christianity
was a concern for the Romans
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This might cause
problems – Christian
beliefs might go against
legal Roman beliefs.
More and more Christians
were persecuted for their
beliefs.
But this didn’t stop the
Christians – many even
became martyrs (they
were willing to die for
their beliefs).
Treated very badly
Remember – in 313, Constantine made
Christianity (and all religions) acceptable.
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And then, by 380,
Theodosius made
Christianity the official
religion of the Roman
Empire (with the
“Edict of Milan”).
There were some issues between Christians
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One was heresies, so
Christians eventually had
to get together to decide
what their teachings
should include and what
they should not.
Who was going to be the
leader of their religion?
In the end, the Bishop of
Rome became the leader
– or “the Pope.”
Saint Linus
Beliefs that go against the official teachings
Constantine
Spreading Christianity
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Christian writings were very
important.
“Letters” by the apostles and
other disciples were saved and
shared with others.
Some of these were “the
Gospels” of Matthew, Mark, Luke,
and John.
Others were simply letters written
to the people of another town
(such as: Corinthians was a note
by Paul to the people of Corinth).
The old part of the Bible is still
Hebrew – the “New Testament”
is about Jesus and his teachings.
The Christian church also began
sending out missionaries – trying
to bring their beliefs to the rest of
the world.
People sent to spread the teachings of Jesus
The History of the Roman Empire
Bad Song, but good story version of the history of the Roman Empire
Horrible Histories The Roman Report
Horrible Histories: Roman Gods