The Rise of Christianity
Roman Religion
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Polytheistic: belief or worship of several gods
Romans were polytheistic
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Jupiter
Juno
Minerva
Mars
Apollo
Diana
Venus
Roman Emperors became Gods, starting with
Augustus
Romans also worshiped Isis (Egyptian God) and
Mithras (Persian God)
Myths gave explanations to questions Roman’s
couldn’t answer
Jupiter
Mars
Minerva
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State priests performed rituals that brought
Romans into the right relationship with the
gods
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Guaranteed peace and prosperity
•Tolerant of other
religions
•Allowed “local”
religions
•Even adopted
some “local”
gods
Rise of Christianity
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Origins
Began during Pax Romana
 Emerged from Judaism
 Led by Jesus of Nazareth
 Beliefs clashed with polytheistic beliefs of
Roman Empire
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Judaism
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Judaism was one of the
religions that Rome had
tolerated
Given considerable
independence
 Conquered by Rome in 63
B.C.
 Judea had been a Roman
province since 6 A.D.
 Placed under control of a
Roman official called a
procurator
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Jewish Tension
Sadducees were priests who favored
cooperation with Rome
 Pharisees were scholars who wanted to
protect Judaism from Roman influence
 Essenes lived apart from society, waited
for God to save Jews from oppression
 Zealots, called for overthrow of Roman
rule
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Jewish Revolt
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Zealots led a revolt
against Rome in 66
A.D.
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Thousands of Jews
killed
Jewish temple in
Jerusalem
destroyed
Many Jews driven
from Judea called
the Diaspora
Spread throughout
Mediterranean
Jesus
Born 4 B.C. in
Bethlehem
 Descendant of King
David
 Grew up in Nazareth
 May have worked as a
carpenter
 At age 30, Jesus began
preaching to villagers
near Sea of Galilee
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Jewish prophet named
Jesus was traveling
countryside preaching
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Believed his mission was
to complete the salvation
that God had promised to
Israel
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Importance was
transformation of inner
person
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Love God and one another
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Voiced ethical concepts:
humility, charity, and love
towards others
Jesus
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Preaching
caused
controversy
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Some saw him
as revolutionary
who would lead a
revolt against
Rome
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Jesus was
turned over to
Rome’s
procurator
Pontius Pilate
and was
crucified.
Jesus
Jesus
After his death, disciples proclaimed he
had risen from the dead and appeared to
him
 Believed he was the messiah
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How was Christianity Spread?
Jesus’ apostles (mainly Paul) throughout
the Roman Empire
 Roman persecution of Christians intially
limited the spread
 Was eventually adopted and legalized by
Emperor Constantine
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Spread of Christianity
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Apostles, or leaders, in early Christianity
were:
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Simon Peter
 Jewish
fisherman
 Friend of Jesus
 Leader of Apostles
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Paul
 Educated
Roman citizen
 Took message to gentiles (non-Jews)
 Founded Christian communities throughout Asia
Minor and along shores of Aegean Sea
 Message: Jesus was Savior, Son of God
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Jesus’s death made up for sins of all humans
Accept Christ and you could be saved from Sin
Paul
Never met Jesus
 Enemy of Christianity
at first
 Had a vision of Jesus
 Pax Romana allowed for
easy travel and exchange of
ideas which allowed apostles
like Paul to quickly spread
Christianity
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Spread of Christianity
Teachings passed orally
 Paul and other followers wrote letters, or
epistles, outlining Christian beliefs
 Between 40 A.D. and 100 A.D., these
became basis for the written Gospels “good news”
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Writings give a record of Jesus’ life and
teachings
 Core of New Testament, 2nd part of Bible
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Spread of Christianity
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By 100 A.D. Christian churches were in
major cities of the eastern empire
Roman Persecution
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Rome only tolerated religions if they didn’t
threaten public order or public morals
Many Romans saw Christianity as a threat
Christians refused to worship Roman gods
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Romans thought that was act of Treason
Romans began persecuting Christians
Fire that destroyed Rome blamed on Christians by
Emperor Nero
Christians were put to death
Called Martyrs, people who suffer or die for their
beliefs
Both Peter and Paul were martyrs
Triumph of Christianity
Roman persecution didn’t stop movement
 Christianity forced to organize
 Christian church created new structure
called the clergy (church leaders)
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Bishops took control of communities
 Laity (regular church members)
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By 3rd century A.D. spread throughout
Mediterranean
Triumph of Christianity
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Spread easily because
Message had a lot to offer
 Personal and offered salvation and eternal life
 Gave meaning and purpose to life
 Familiar to older religions
 Fulfilled human need to belong
 Formed communities that helped one another
 Attractive to all classes of people
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Triumph of Christianity
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Last great Christian persecution was by Emperor
Diocletian in 4th century
By 4th century Christianity prospered when
Emperor Constantine became the 1st Christian
emperor
Converted after seeing a vision of a cross before
a battle for leadership of Rome
Ordered the cross be put on his soldier’s shield
313 A.D. Constantine issued the Edict of Milan
which proclaimed Christianity a religion
accepted by Rome
Under Theodosius the Great, Romans adopted
Christianity as the official religion in 380 A.D.
Early Christian Church
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Renounced evil in the rite of baptism
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Sins are forgiven by the Grace of God
Members were equals, addressing each
other as sister and brother
 Gathered to celebrate God on Sundays
 Ate bread and drank wine in sacred meal
called the Eucharist
 Women served as teachers and
administrators
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Structure of Church
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Men allowed to
become members of
clergy
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Priests under
authority of bishop
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Church official
responsible for all
Christians in an area
called a diocese
Peter became first
bishop of Jerusalem
Peter was “rock”
church would be built
on
Structure of the Church
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Bishops of important cities gained more authority
Bishops of Rome, Antioch, Alexandria,
Jerusalem and Constantinople called patriarchs
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Latin-speaking west, bishops of Rome, called
Popes, claimed greater authority over all
bishops
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They had power over Bishops in their area
Called a hierarchy
Rome center of Christianity
Claimed Peter was first Pope
Greek-speaking east, patriarchs shared power
Division in the Church
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Emergence of heresies causes a council of
church leaders to be called to determine official
church teachings
Beliefs compiled into New Testament
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Contained four gospels
Epistles of Paul
Other documents
325 A.D. Constantine called the council of
Nicaea in Anatolia to define basic beliefs of
church
Church sent missionaries throughout Roman
Empire and beyond to spread Christianity
Theology
Theology- talk of discourse about God
 Leading Christian scholars:
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Clement and Origen
 Origen
wrote On Prayer and On First Principles
Both lived in Alexandria
 Augustine, Bishop of Hippo in North Africa
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 Combined
Greco-Roman learning and Christian
doctrine
 Wrote The City of God
Christianity’s Influence on the
Roman Empire
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Christian church became example of
moral authority
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Loyalty to the Church became more
important than loyalty to the Emperor
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Church would be main unifying force of
Western Europe