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Final Paper Christianity in Rome Christianity has been around for many years, all the way back to the birth of Jesus. It developed out of Judaism in the first century C. E. Christianity was founded on the life, teaching, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and those who follow him are known as Christians. Christianity is known for the emphasis on faith In Christ as the key religion. The belief of Christianity was they believed god created all human beings equally. They thought people should love god and one another.
Christianity Is religion that wants you to do well toward other and develop the qualities of kindness and patience. It is important for them to forgive and forget. Christianity is a religion is widely practiced by people know to god. Christianity today is not the same as it was back then, in the past it was very different; especially in Rome. During the first century, this new religion, Christianity, happen to rise in Rome. “Jesus followers came to an enormous Impact first In the Roman Empire” (pathos).
While In Rome, Christians refused to worship the ancient gods, which was against the law with the ancient Romans. Christians also started to be considered as animals because they were going against the Romans. “The dislike of Christianity from the Romans was very surprising; the reasoning behind it was because Romans adopted gods of other faiths of religions quickly’ (library). One religion the Romans readily accepted was the Greeks. The Romans accepted the gods and their myths with no problem.
They altered many established roman goddesses to resemble their Greek counterparts. So since the Romans had no problem accepting other religions, the Christians found It unusual that their religion was not accepted. The reasons why the Romans had a hard time accepting the Christian religion was because the Romans declared their monarchs to be gods, which began with Augustus Caesar (library). However the Christians negated to take part In the respect of emperors with the Romans, so as a result they were disliked by the Roman State.
The Christianity religion had many effects on the Romans. At first, Like I said before the Christians TLD worship the emperor, so Romans made it illegal to worship the Christian religion. “The Christians refused military service and did not take part in the politics or law of the Romans cause these things included pagan, an irreligious person, traditions and beliefs” (roman). The Christians rejection to follow the rules of the Romans most certainly angered them.
When the Christians started to go against what the Romans believed In or the things they thought the Christians should be apart of the Romans then started to question their loyalty to Rome. Even though all this happen to occur with the Christians and the Romans, mistreatment toward the Christians were not regular; it usually didn’t last long and was not consistently carried through out of the Oman kingdom. A significant problem the Romans had with the Christians was them being a monotheistic religion. They were often called traitors. Now, we bring about the actual spread of Christianity. The memory of Jesus and his teachings survived small congregations, more often in homes of supporters to discuss the true meaning of Jesus and what he believed in and to also celebrate the ritual remembering his last meal with his disciples before his capture. They had the mind set of thinking that Jesus would soon return to the world, regarding the earthy life and societies important (McKay). Soon after these congregations of people soon decided to evolve into what came to be known as the religion of Christianity, with a formal organization and set of beliefs. The catalyst in the spread of Jesus teaching and the formation of the Christian church was Paul of Tarsus, a well-educated Jew who was comfortable in both the Roman and the Jew world” (McKay). Christianity would have more likely died out if Paul did not come. “Paul converted to Christianity on the basis of a vision; he was told that his mission was to spread the word about Christianity’ Owe). “He first persecuted members of the new sect, but on the road to the city of Damascus in Syria he was converted to the belief in Jesus and became a vigorous promoter of Jesus ideas” (McKay). Paul happens to realize from the beginning that the success of Christianity did not lay well with the Jews but it did with the non-Jews” (McKay). Paul traveled all over the Roman Empire and wrote letters of guidance too many groups of people. These letters were copied and widely spread, allowing transformation of Jesus ideas into more detailed moral teachings. As result of Pall’s efforts he became the most important figure in changing Christianity into its own separate religion. “Also many of his letters to the people became part of the Christian scriptures” (McKay). Paul said that the “NeW’ Testament canceled the “Old” Testament; the ideas of Christianity are the result of the Hebrew bible Owe). After this Paul then decided to go out and sell this pagan to the world, and he was the best person for this Job. The extent of the Roman Empire was another factor behind the spread of Christianity. If all the roads led to Rome, they also led out to the provinces of Rome. This empowered early Christians to spread their faith easily throughout the known world, as Jesus told his followers to do. The teaching then became universal.
Paul began to urge that non-Jews be accepted on an equal preference. The earliest Christian converts included people from social classes. These people were reached by missionaries and the others spread the Christian messages through their families, friends and business partners. Many women became part of the spread of Christianity. Paul greeted women and men by name in his letters and always noted that women frequently provided financial support awards his activities. ” The Christianity community that grew differed in the extent to which women participated in the workings of the religion” (McKay).
There were many reasons why people became attracted to the Christian teachings. This religion offered the believers special teachings that would give them immortality. In contrast to the traditional religions, Christianity promised immortality widely and not Just too specific people. “Christianity also offered the possibility for forgiveness, for believers accepted that human nature is weak and that even the best Christians could fall into in” (McKay). Christianity was also attractive to many because it gave the roman world a cause.
Christianity strained the idea of people actually striving for a goal. By the word of Christianity being spread, the Christians played their part in God’s plan for the achievement of Christianity on earth. Christians were not discouraged by another as a guide and provided support for widows, orphans, and the poor (McKay). There was a growing and acceptance process for the Christians and the Romans. At the beginning many heathens or as they would call them “pagans” in the roman empire misunderstood Christian practices and beliefs.
They thought Christians were one of the worst mystery cults, with immoral and indecent rituals (McKay). Many thought and worried Christians were trying to destroy roman families with their perseverance on a new type of connection with the Romans. Christians were believed to be responsible for religious misunderstandings. Christians exaggerated the degree of pagan hostility to them and most of the gory stories about the martyrs are fictitious (McKay). As time pass by, the resentment and mistrust from the pagans creased. Pagans realized the Christians were not working to overthrow the state and that Jesus was no rival of Caesar” (McKay). The emperor Trojan prohibited his governors to hunt down Christians. Though admitting that, Trojan considered Christianity an abomination, and Just preferred to leave the Christians in peace. By the second century C. E. Christianity was changing. The belief of Jesus coming again gradually decreased as the number of changes increased and stable societies were established instead of simple house churches that they were once in. Bishops started o become important around this time.
They began to interpret that they had the right to determine Christian teachings, which was a big help too lot of the Christians. Christianity also began to attract highly educated individuals that help people to understand scriptures that were not exactly clear to them. The Christians became part of the Roman Empire and the disputes towards the Christians gradually declined. Christianity became a more powerful religion and the Christians learned to stand their ground and gain respect from the Romans. This was a start of a new ginning in the Roman Empire.