Christianity & the Roman Empire

Powerpoint presentation created by Robert L. MartinezPrimary Content Source: Prentice Hall World HistoryImages as cited. historybooksreview.blogspot.com

Within the culturally diverse Roman empire, a variety of religious beliefs

and practices coexisted. Jupiter, Mars, Juno, and other traditional

Roman gods remained important to some people.

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A growing number of people were looking for other spiritual

fulfillment. One of the most popular of these was the cult of Isis, which

originated in Egypt and offered women equal status with men.

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Others worshipped the Persian and Mithras, who championed good over evil and offered life

after death. Mithraism was favored by Roman soldiers.

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Generally, Rome tolerated the varied religious traditions. As long,

as citizens showed loyalty by honoring Roman gods and

acknowledging the emperor, they were allowed to worship other

gods.

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Because most people at the time were polytheistic, they were

content to worship the Roman gods along with their own.

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By 63 B.C.E., the Romans had conquered Judea. Jews were devoted to their

monotheistic traditions. To avoid violating the Jewish belief in one god, the Romans excused Jews from worshipping Roman

gods.

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Some Jews believed that a messiah sent by God, would

soon appear to lead the Jewish people to freedom.

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In A.D. 66, discontent flared into rebellion. Roman forces crushed the rebels, captured Jerusalem, and destroyed the

Jewish temple.

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When revolts broke out again in the next century, Roman armies leveled

Jerusalem. Thousands of Jews were killed in the fighting and many others

were enslaved and transported to various parts of the Roman empire.

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Due to the destruction, growing numbers of Jews decided to leave

Judea. Jews would survive in scattered communities around the

Mediterranean.

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Over the centuries, Jewish rabbis preserved the religious laws, as set forth in the Talmud. Commitment

to learning Jewish law and traditions enabled the Jewish

religion to endure.

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As turmoil engulfed the Jews in Palestine, a new religion,

Christianity rose among them. Its founder was a Jew named Jesus.

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Almost all that we know about the life of Jesus comes from

the Gospel, the first four books of the New Testament of

the Bible.

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According to the Gospels, Jesus followed Jewish law, and at age 30

began preaching to villagers near the Sea of Galilee. To help him with his

mission, he recruited twelve apostles.

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Large crowds gathered to hear Jesus’ teachings, especially when word spread

that he had performed miracles of healing. Jesus used parables, or short stories with simple moral lessons, to

communicate his ideas.

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After three years, he and his disciples, went to Jerusalem. Jesus believed in

one God and accepted the Ten Commandments. He preached

obedience to the laws of Moses and defended the teachings of the Jewish

prophets.

Jesus claimed to be the Son of God. Many people believed he was the messiah

whose appearance Jews had long predicted. Jesus proclaimed that his

mission was to bring spiritual salvation and eternal life to anyone who would

believe in him.

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Some Jews welcomed Jesus to Jerusalem. Others regarded his ideas dangerous. Jewish priests felt that he challenged

their leadership. To the Roman authorities, Jesus was a revolutionary who might lead the Jews in a rebellion

against the empire.

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Arrested by the Romans, he was tried and condemned to be crucified. In

crucifixion, a Roman method of execution, a person was nailed to or

hung on a cross and left to die.

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Rumors spread through Jerusalem that Jesus still lived. His followers, the

Gospels say, saw and talked with Jesus, who had risen from the dead. They say Jesus commanded them to spread his teachings, and that he then ascended

into heaven.

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Following Jesus’ death, the apostles spread Jesus’ message and helped

establish Christian communities. Jews that accepted the teachings of the

messiah became the first Christians. For a time, Christianity remained a sect

within Judaism.

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Roman officials suspected Christians of disloyalty to Rome

because they refused to honor the emperor or Roman gods.

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In times of trouble, persecution of Christians increased. Roman

rulers like Nero used Christians as scapegoats, blaming them for

social and economic woes.

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The persecutions of Christians ended in 313 C.E., when the emperor Constantine

issued the Edict of Milan. It granted freedom of worship to all citizens of the

Roman empire. 80 years later, Christianity would become the official

religion of the Roman empire.

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