Christianity During The Roman Empire

Religion played a key role in the daily life and social system of Ancient Rome. Religion included the worship of many gods and more gods were often adopted from conquered areas. Because most religions were polytheist at the time, the Romans rarely disallowed a cult from a conquered region to continue. A few cults ran into controversy and opposition from citizens or government, such as the cult of Deus Sol Invictus, and that of Isis. Romans were also not keen on monotheistic religion which explains their separation from the Jews. But above all other religions, the Romans disagreed with, persecuted and were threatened most by Christianity.  The introduction of Christianity to the Roman Empire

At first in the Roman Empire, Christianity was chastised and demeaned. But, as if diffused throughout the entire Empire, it caused many changes in daily Roman life. The Empire, before Christianity, consisted of a Parthenon of gods and goddesses, and of cults, such as Bacchus. When Christianity was introduced, it changed the Empire, just as the Empire ended up changing it.

At one time, all of Rome was united by a common religion. This religion, commonly referred to as the Roman religion, was derived from the religion in Greece. Members of this religion, which included the majority, if not all, of the Roman citizens, worshiped many different gods, including the creator or father god, Jupiter, the sun god, Apollo, the god of inspiring wars, Mars, and many others as well. The popularity of this religion began to decline when Christianity arose. It appealed to the majority of the people, particularly the lower class and slaves, who now had something to put their hope and faith in. This religion spread rapidly, and Roman emperors felt that because it was so influential it would become a possible threat. These leaders began persecuting Christians, but many Romans had already committed to this religion and refused to abandon it because they viewed it as the most important part of their life. This led to a lack of patriotism in Roman citizens who then rejected politics and became independent of the government.

As Christianity grew in popularity and spread throughout Rome, Rome’s downfall advanced rapidly. Firstly, the growth of christianity caused Rome’s government was not able to control the roman empire. To start, Christian beliefs, unlike the old pagan beliefs, did not view the emperor as a god. The view of power shifted to a sole all powerful god. The shit dragged the emperor’s power and reputation to their god, thus giving the emperor less ability to govern the people, even if it was for their benefit.

In the Roman Empire centralized religion based off of who was ruling at the time was practiced to an extent. As long as citizens respected the emperor and didn’t try to revolt they were left in peace. One example of a religion that were prosecuted against because of the potential of revolt was Christianity, derived from Judaism until the point of the worship of Jesus. Christianity went from being prosecuted against to becoming a dominate religion in Rome. There were many changes that allowed Christianity to become a dominate religion in the Roman empire. Two main things that contributed were in the end of the teachings of Jesus and the reign of emperor Constantine.

In the Roman Civilization where the prevalent worship of roman gods were impersonal and did not provide a moral base or a message of hope, in the fourth century Christianity was formed, born as a movement within Judaism Christianity emphasized the personal relationship between God and people slowly spread through the Roman Empire until ultimately dominating the western culture. Three of the several factors that aided to the growth of Christianity in the Roman Empire were; the central beliefs and value of Christianity, prominent figures, and Christianity appeal to women.

Religion has always been an important force in the lives of common people. In the early centuries, Christianity was developing with a great influence to affect the Roman world. Constantine came to power in the Western provinces of the Roman Empire as an advocate of religious toleration. Constantine’s advocacy for religious toleration alongside his conversion marked a turning point of the Roman world and drove the spread Christianity.

The relationship between Christianity and the Roman Empire is interconnected with each other in different ways. Heaps of commotion and perspectives were constructed, and it caused several disputes to form all over Europe. In addition to this, there was also a large amount of seclusion, death and persecution during the time. Events such as the Fall of the Roman Empire in 476 AD, the rise of Christianity, and its expansion throughout the Europe were a result of the political conflict. Due to the actions of many individuals and groups that influenced the course of major events, the relationship between the Roman Empire and Christianity was quite tense, problematic and confrontational.

The Roman Empire was arguably the most powerful society the ancient world ever saw. It was an advanced civilization in which not only the rich, but also people of lower classes residing in Roman borders, believed in the strength of unity. The Romans trusted that as long as all people worked as one to help the empire, as it was their duty, they would remain strong and continue to conquer lesser empires and expand their own.. This belief, known as pietas, would manifest itself in many facets of Roman society. One such manifestation examined by historians is the religious belief system known as Paganism. Paganism, for the Romans, took the shape of not only a traditional religion in which people worship and pray

Henry, M. (2003). I am the truth: toward a philosophy of Christianity. Stanford, Calif: Stanford University Press.

Roman religion is not as easy to identify or describe as one might immediately suppose. Much of the difficulty in defining the religion of the Roman Republic is due to its flexibility and variability, as well as the lack of any clear division between religion, politics, and civil society during this period. It can often be difficult to tell, for example, where Roman religion ends and political ideology begins. Despite these difficulties, it is possible to make certain generalized statements. Religion in the Roman republic was extremely integrated into everyday life, it is variable and individualized, and it played a key role in upholding Roman civil and military power structures. It is also important to remember that Roman religion is not static and underwent a constant process of change over several centuries, often due to political and social concerns.

The Romans had a religion that they believed in but was not something concrete and was not of having a central idea. The religion was based on a mix of certain traditions and beliefs. Religion was not never really a big factor in their Empire. The Romans were stubborn with religion and this could be the reason they had an attitude towards these aspects of life. According to St. Augustine’s book Confession, he states that there were a lot of fake gods and there were two major religions in the Roman Empire. The very first religion was Paganism and that’s what his father was known to believe. Then the second main religion was Christianity which his mother believed in. The emperor of Rome at this time, Constantine himself was not a Christian when he conquered Rome, but rather he had a religious conversion when he won the fight with contending tetrarchs at the Milvian bridge in 306 AD, with help of image of the Cross. The

Factors Which Led to the Spread of Christianity in the Roman Empire Christianity was not born in a vacumn. There were many social, geographical, historical and religious issues prevailing at the time of Christ and all of which were favorable to the spread of Christianity. Geograpicly, Christianity came into being in the Meditation world, the largest of the various centers of civilization at that time. Israel stands almost central to the five continents, dividing the east and west.

For many years, men and women were persecuted and crucified for following God's word through Christian traditions. Therefore, after many years, Christianity was accepted, and those who persecuted Christians started to believe and embraced the true gospel. Those who finally welcomed the true religion were the Romans, and as everyone knows, Rome was the most important and advanced civilization of the ancient times. The Romans learned, and use other civilizations contributions, and refine them for their use. Hence, one civilization they studied and admired was the Greek civilization, the Greek culture has influence Rome for many centuries, to a point that many of its literature and ways of life have been adopted from the Greek culture, allowing Roman citizens to follow greek theories, starting from Marcus Tullius Cicero,

After a long fought battle by Christians to belong Christianity flourished and spread throughout the Roman Empire. “Christianity, the core religion of the West, was born within the Roman Empire and was greatly influenced by Roman law and organization”(Perry 167). Whether or not Rome wanted Christianity it was there to stay. According to Spielvogel “Christianity fulfilled the human need to belong”(175). Christians formed a bond and communities where people could express their love by helping each other and assisting the needy. It made people feel more like the belonged in a way that just the Roman Empire could not do. The Roman Empire was way too big and impersonal that people needed an outlet and needed a way to feel like they were apart of something bigger than themselves. “The ideal of a single Christian society embracing many different nationalities, so dear to medieval thinkers, was superimposed on the model of the Roman Empire” (Perry 167). No matter what Christianity was spreading rapidly and the Romans were going to embrace this new religion and ended up building a successful empire around its ideals. Much like the Roman Empire the founders of the United States built this country off of Christian ideals.