How Did Christianity Become Ficial Of Rome? Essay

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. Christianity offered hope to many, for it was the time of grace and freedom, the time to rebuild the future and

It was this refusal that caused its practice to be illegal and those who chose to stick with the faith were prosecuted. Although people were being killed for practicing, Christianity started to become even more popular. After seeing Christian martyrs risk their lives for the sake of Christianity, many Romans were compelled and attracted to the faith. Also, there were Apostles who traveled around the empire spreading the message of Christianity. Then in 312 CE, Emperor Constantine proposed the Edict of Milan that banned all laws against Christianity. That allowed people to freely worship, without the fear of harsh punishment. He eventually converted on his deathbed. Then in 392 CE, Emperor Theodosius made Christianity the official religion of Rome. Christianity went from being an illegal religion to the official religion of the Roman Empire.

When you think about Christianity, you don’t think about it being a bad thing. Christianity is the religion derived from Jesus Christ, based on the Bible as sacred scripture, and professed by Eastern, Roman Catholic, and Protestant bodies. This religion came to be one of the largest and most influential religions today. When the Romans thought about Christianity, it was considered a sin. But what exactly was the nature of the conflict between Christianity and the Roman government? The conflict between Christianity and the Roman government was that Christians refused to recognizes the romans beliefs in their religion.

The population of Rome was mainly made up of peasants and farmers so when they learned that Jesus was like them it gave them hope of achieving eternal life. Christianity accepts people of all social classes so it spread quickly throughout Rome due to the lower class’s large population. When Constantine embraced Christianity and stopped the persecution of Christians the religion spread like wild fire because Christians could spread God’s word, like Paul, without being

The conditions in the Roman Empire were optimal for the development of what is now a prevalent and well established religion. Many factors were influential in the development of Christianity in Rome, and they all were successful in their own way. From Constantine to Paul, and the people their messages reached throughout the empire, they were all united under one

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.

Ancient Rome and Christianity experienced many similarities and differences throughout their time. Because the Roman World began their religion multiple years before Christianity began to erupt, therefore Christianity was persecuted by the Roman World. The Roman World based their religion off gods and goddesses while Christianity was based off of Jesus and his crucifixion on the cross for our sins. These religions share different but in some way similar purposes, virtue, and destiny.

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

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.

Then and now religions shared common dimensions that provide society with a doctrine, narrative, ethics, ritual, experience and a social institution. These six dimensions that Ninian Smart derived spell out the framework for comparative study of religions1. The six dimensions hold true when comparing the daily routine Roman religious thought to modern Christianity. Interwoven into the core of both cultures is a strong unifying spirit that built a strong communal bond for its people.

There are many differences between Christianity and Roman religion. There are also similarities between the two of how they both worshipped in a place even if the place was different. Big difference is that they believed in gods and also they had different ways of religious. Roman did not like people turning away from Roman religion, and that caused harsh punishment to Christian to occur. Christianity became popular in Rome is after “the Jesus movement” occurred in Judea. Another key point that needs to be discussed is what the Roman did to deal with the people who turned away from Roman religion to Christianity.

By 400 AD, a century later, it had become the official religion practiced by pretty much everyone. Evidence of this remarkable transformation can still be seen in Rome’s monuments (McLachlan, 2010). Constantine as well as his army converted to Christianity, which later on they started painting crosses on their battle shields. Constantine and his army brought down the pagan religion, which then they brought Christianity to Rome. Now Constantine pretty much gave one great thing that was beneficial to the Christian, which then he legalized their religion.

Ancient Rome practiced many religions which had their own rules. Christians had to follow the teachings of Jesus Christ. People believed Jesus Christ was the son of God because of his resurrection. Christians had to pray and worship, as well as be a good person. In Ancient Rome Christianity took time to be accepted. Christians as well as Jesus Christ were persecuted for their beliefs. Romulus and Remus are the mythical founders of Rome

Christians went from being persecuted to dominating Rome rather quickly. In a world where separation between church and state does not exist, a Christian becoming the sole emperor of Rome symbolized a huge turning point in history. The power switched and the Pagans in turn became persecuted. Christians rose up and took control of all aspects of Roman society. The Pagan past was destroyed, banned, or forgotten about. Those Christians that did not agree with how things were being run either left the empire and became monks or formed their own sect. All of Rome changed.

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.