In the space of a few hundred years, a small, often brutally persecuted cult rose to become the dominant religion of the West. The story of Christianity’s rise to prominence is a remarkable one, but the traditional story of its progression from a tiny, persecuted religion to the established religion in the medieval West needs to be cut down. While the Roman Empire weakened and crumbled, a new force - Christianity - developed within it (Adler 138). One of the many factors that contributed to the fall of the Roman Empire was the rise of this new religion. The spread of Christianity was made a lot easier by the efficiency of the Roman Empire, and despite its growing popularity Christianity's principles were sometimes misunderstood and membership of the sect could be dangerous (PBS.org). Widely criticized after the Great Fire of Rome in 64 AD, the Emperor Nero tried to divert attention away from his own failings by providing an easy scapegoat: the Christians (Heinrich). Through the hardships, as time went by Christianity became powerful and more organized than the old Roman culture and eventually became the new Rome.
Christianity was one of the fastest spreading religions of its time. From the first century, Christians have claimed that the world was uniquely prepared for the coming of Jesus Christ and the birth of Christianity. To be a Christian during the time of the fall of the Roman Empire would not be a delightful time to live. Christians dedicated their lives, minds, hearts and souls to God, and by doing so were often persecuted. After the death of Jesus is when Christianity began to grow rapidly. Christianity was distinguished from other religions because everyone was eligible to be a Christian. Christianity offered a messag...
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...s. World Civilizations, Volume 1: to 1700, Sixth Edition. Boston: Wadsworth, 2008. Print.
Guericke, Henry E. F. Manual of Church History. New York: Wiley and Halsted, 1857. Google books. Web. 16 Nov. 2013
PBS.org. “The Roman Empire In The First Century: Early Christians.” PBS. 2006. Web 16 Nov. 2013
Trueman, Chris. “Rome and Christianity.” Historylearningsite. Web. 16 Nov. 2013.
Ushistory.org. “The Fall of the Roman Empire.” Ancient Civilizations Online Textbook. Ushitory. Web. 17 Nov. 2013.
Verheyden, Joseph. "Religious Rivalries In The Early Roman Empire And The Rise Of Christianity." Review Of Biblical Literature 9.(2007): 334-336. Academic Search Premier. Web. 14 Nov. 2013.
The rise of Christianity in Rome did not come easily. It came with much destruction and death. The spark of Christianity in Rome came from an appearance of Martyrs in Rome. Martyrs were people that were executed for going against the common beliefs of pagan (polytheistic) ways. (Tignor, 2011, p. 286) Because of these awful executions, Christianity is said to be based off of “the blood of martyrs.” One of their main ways of spreading Christianity was through the sharing of their writings and by 300 CE there was an exceptional amount of book production throughout Rome. (Tignor, 2011, p. 289) “Christianity operated as one among many minority religions in the Roman Empire, and on several occasions experienced widespread persecution, especially under the emperors Nero (r. 54–68), Decius (r. 249–251), and Diocletian (r. 284–305). However, the situation changed radically under the emperor Constantine (r. 306–337), who in 313 issued the Edict of Milan that made Christianity a legitimate religion in the empire.” (Melton, 2010, p. 634)
This loss of power was a direct result of several factors: the patriarchal canons of early Eastern and Western Church councils, the conversion of the Emperor Constantine, and the decree of Emperor Theodosius that made Christianity the state religion of Rome (Lynch,10). These events led to positions in the Church such as presbyter, deacon, and bishop being held in high regard, and also hi...
PBS, "The Roman empire in the first century." Last modified 2006. Accessed February 2, 2014. http://www.pbs.org/empires/romans/empire/christians.html.
Jenkins, Phillips. The Lost History of Christianity. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 2008. Print. Phillips, Jonathan.
Bryan Byerly Mrs. Wagner Western World 10 Seminar- 4 4 December, 2013 Christianity in Rome Essay Christianity became more prevalent in Roman society as time went on because it appealed to Rome and what Roman ideals were. In the beginning Romans were skeptical of changing religion, but as the years went by, the Romans adopted and changed. Christianity appealed to the Roman ideals, as it gave certain perks that their current polytheistic religion did not offer to them. The emperors of Rome had many different views on Christianity; some emperors encouraged change, and others were more traditional and wanted to stick to their current, polytheistic religion. Roman views on Christianity have changed drastically from the early years of the Roman
Christianity developed with Jesus of Nazareth (6 BCE- 29 CE). He was born during the reign of Augustus Caesar. He practiced Christianity from 26 CE to 29 CE. He was the Son of God and the Redeemer of all Mankind. The Romans viewed him as someone “rocking the boat” with what was already a nation of the religiously obsessed. Eventually h...
McManners, John. "The Oxford History of Christianity." The Oxford History of Christianity. New York: New York Oxford Press, 2002. 28.
The religious tolerance and cultural acceptance Rome demonstrated during its conquest which kept its inhabitants reasonably happy allowed the seeds of Christianity to be sewn into the empire. Eventually Christianity grew and became the official religion of the empire and ultimately created a culture of disloyalty to the government and apathy to earthly troubles. The economy built on cheap labor and sustainable farming practices left the country out to dry when both of these resources dried up and could no longer support the empire. And Rome’s vast empire became in itself too large to maintain and what was once a small fortified empire grew into a massive and vulnerable one. Ancient Rome is one of history 's great civilizations but it’s inability to overcome it’s own, mostly internal, problems was eventually too much for it to
The Roman Empire is credited with many things due partially to their ability to share, spread, and adapt culture. Rome was successful because it both conquered and shared the fruits of conquest with the conquered. Religion was one part of the culture that demonstrated the tolerance of Romans. For example, at the time of Jesus’ birth, paganism could be divided into three spheres: the official state religion, the traditional cults of the hearth and countryside, and the new mystery religions from the East. Even though the official religion in the Roman Empire began as Pagan, it ended as Christianity when Emperor Theodosius declared it as the official religion in A.D. 380. The following examines two works of fiction that deal with religion during the Roman Empire.
Shelton, J.A. (1998). As the Romans Did: A Sourcebook in Roman Social History. (2nd ed.) New York: Oxford University Press.
Schaff, Phillip. History of the Christian Church. Vol. VI, §73. 3rd ed. Edinburgh: Hendrickson, 2006. Web.
Church History in Plain Language is written by Bruce L. Shelley. This work focuses on the history of Christianity from 6 B.C. to the current period. It covers some of Christianity’s greatest events, theologians, and the various subsection of Christianity. Other than the events leading up to the death of Jesus, I had very little knowledge of Christianity’s history. After reading through the book, I have gained understanding on the Christian Councils, scholasticism, Christendom, and modern trends of Christianity.
Heichelheim, Fritz, Cedric A. Yeo, and Allen M. Ward. A History Of The Roman People. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall Inc., 1984.
In conclusion, it is important to realize that it was not one single factor which was responsible for the spread of Christianity, all these figures came together to give the perfect platform for a new religion to develop, " Never before in the history of the race had conditions been so ready for the adoption of a new faith by the majority of the peoples of so large an area" (K.S Latourette).
Douglas, J. D., Philip Wesley Comfort and Donald Mitchell. Who's Who in Christian History. Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House, 1992.