Christianity: Political Instability In The Roman Empire

The main factor for the popularity of Christianity was the political instability in the Roman Empire. Christianity ultimately triumphed over paganism because it answered people’s doubts and improved the lives of its adherents in a far more immediate way. One of the most important factors was the doctrine of the future life of the soul, which combined Judeo-Christian beliefs with the Greek notion of the immortality of the soul. The Christian afterlife and salvation included everybody and was open to not only Jews but pagans too; it was for the rich and especially for the poor. This was the first time that a religion focused on social issues such as feeding the poor and healing the sick, this religion professed that, as an adherent, it was

your duty to help and love others. This notion of social responsibility and the building of a universal Christian communal system aided in the transformation of Christianity from a sect to a state religion.
I would argue that the early fathers of the church such as the Apostle Paul deliberately chose to begin their mission in Greece and to write the original Evangelical texts in Greek because of the universality of the Hellenistic ideology. Greek Philosophy and Greek Language set the stage for the rapid dissemination of Christianity. Christian theology emphasizes the unity between faith and reason. From the beginnings of His mission Christ acted like Socrates asking people questions of faith and getting them to realize the truths of the Christian faith on their own terms. Christian theology was born out of the intellectual curiosity cultivated by the philosophers of ancient Greece that taught the world to ask questions to get to the heart of the nature of their world and themselves. The Christian interpretation of the creation of the universe, of the origins of the soul and the nature of morality was greatly influenced by Greek philosophy. Furthermore, in his Epistles St. Paul draws the guidelines of the Christian life based on stoic notions of ethics. Paul introduces the idea of God as the Logos (reason), he is describing the proper way Christians are to serve God by imitating God, using divinely appointed reason and transforming their intellect towards higher aims. This idea is directly pulled from Seneca and Epictetus, who believe the human life should be entirely devoted to transforming one’s mind as a means of creating a firm foundation to moral wisdom. Without the fundamental teachings of Greek philosophy the Christian theologians would not have been able to display matters of faith in such an eloquent and logical manner.
The emperor Constantine I (The Great) was the most instrumental figure for the Christian faith.

Constantine adopted Christianity on the eve of the Battle of the Milvian Bridge in 312 against his rival Maxentius. According to Eusabius, Constatine had a vision of the Chi Rho (initials of Jesus in Greek) , or of the cross , with the words “ under this sign you will conquer”. Constantine decided to take up the sign of Jesus as the symbol for the Roman Army and he won the battle. After securing his reign through conquest, Constantine turned his attention to legislature, he drew up the edict of Milan in 313, which allowed Christians the freedom to practice their religion, this edict is known as the edict of tolerance. Constantine was also very much involved with Christian doctrine, he summoned the council of Nicaea in 325 to reform the church which was being taken over by numerous heresies, this ecumenical council put in place the Nicean Creed; this creed reaffirms the divine nature of Christ and asserts that the father and the son are of the same nature. Constantine cemented a standard for the ruler as answerable to God for the salvation of his realm. The emperor had a duty to maintain doctrine, condemn heresy, and ensure sacred unity within the church. Another pivotal figure for Christianity is the Emperor Theodosius I (The Great) he effectively made Nicean Christianity the official state religion of the Roman

Empire.
There were numerous transformations to the Christian church in its history. The main disagreement was about the Filioloque (and from the son) clause added to the Nicean Creed. The Eastern Church gave primacy to the father and did not adhere to the Filioloque clause. This is viewed as the main reason for the Great Schism of 1054 between the eastern and western churches.
In conclusion the continuity of the popularity of Christianity is due to its universality. The message of Christ’s Love speaks to all people and the tenets of Christianity are relatively easy to adopt.