How Did Christianity Influence Western Civilization

‘Christians to the lions’ as Trajan would say, an emperor in the early centuries Christianity to them have alienated the favour of their gods which has and would continue to cause disasters in the Roman Empire. The misfortune of Christians did not stop during this period, but it did come to a composed halt as Galerius, gave Christians the right to worship in some sense. Christianity during the early stages was clearly a course of persecution and forced pagan accusations. Constantine dramatically changed the recourse of religions with the battle of Milvian Bridge as Christianity became the predominant religion of the Roman Empire.

The Pax Romana allowed Rome to expand, and created a period of peace that would spread the important religion of Christianity throughout the strong empire. The new religion of Christianity was Jesus’ interpertation of monotheistic religion, Judiasm. Christianity was unlike the polytheistic Roman religion which infuriated many Roman rulers. Despite the hatred of rulers it spread quickly throughout the empire and continued even after Jesus died. Although Christianity followers were persecuted they felt strongly about their beliefs and eventually the Edict of Milan was passed whih meant that Christianity was a religion approved by the emperor. Christianity changed from a sect of persecution to a state religion within the Roman Empire because

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

One of the main questions is how did the Romans began to accept Christianity into their empire when it was hated and outlawed. Some of the reasons are a new ruler,change of beliefs from the people, and the spread of Christianity itself. Another one of the main questions is how did they go from being paganism to Christianity how was that made legal? Was it from a change of ruler,a new law that forced them, or just that the majority of the people of Rome believed in this religion.

Part 1 Discuss the rise of Christianity. What role did Peter, Paul and the Martyrs Play? What role did Constantine and Theodosius have in its development? What role did the Popes, Patriarchs and Germanic Kings play? Did Christianity save civilization after the Roman Empire collapsed?

The positive influence of Christianity is far reaching especially in the rich history and culture of Western Civilization despite a long standing ignorance or adamant denial of its contributions. The Bible itself is responsible for much of the language, literature, and fine arts we enjoy today as its artists and composers were heavily influenced by its writings. Paul Maier, in writing the forward to the book How Christianity Changed the World by Alvin J. Schmidt, says this about the profound impact Christianity has had on the development of Western Civilization:

The History of the Jews in the Roman Empire traces the interaction of Jews and Romans during the period of Roman Empire. Emperor Constantine I is often credited with converting the Roman Empire to Christianity. In fact, though he ended the persecution of Christians and eventually converted, some historians debate the true nature of his faith. When Constantine, the emperor of Rome, became a Christian it meant that the empire became Christian,

Constantine the Great was a Roman Emperor from 306-337 AD. He was a soldier who arduously worked to climb through the ranks, working through a civil war to become emperor. He is most famous for establishing a new capital where Byzantium once was, and named the new establishment “Constantinople.” However, Constantine is most famous for becoming Roman Emperor who converted to Christianity in his forties. His mother, Helen, was a Christian and ultimately decided to convert after believing that the Christian god had helped him in his success though the war. He enacted the Edict of Milan in the third century with his co-emperor Licinius, and officially declared Christianity legal. This document was one of the most significant and important writings of the time because it declares that Christians could freely practice religion.

Christ preached about the “Golden Rule”, which means to do unto others as you would have done to you. The Roman’s felt threatened by Christ’s popularity so they had him crucified on a cross. That’s when the cross became the symbol of Christ and his disciples spread his teachings. A institutional church was established in Rome over the next 400 years. Christians started spreading their religion throughout Europe.

In 313 AD the Emperor Constantine formally recognized the Christian religion. Christianity spread throughout the Roman Empire, this event affected the way people thought and lived their lives. Had a great impact on how rulers viewed their power and used their powers. Such influence was portrayed in Christian art as we know today.

He was the first emperor to make the conversion to Christianity. Christianity is a monotheistic religion that focuses on the teachings of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Reasons why he may have converted from paganism to Christianity are that it could help him politically in ruling the empire by gaining support or that during war his experiences may have caused him to have a change of heart but most think it's because of the former. Christianity did not become the official religion until the reign of Emperor Theodosius. Constantine blamed his rise to power on the Christian God and believed that he was chosen by God to rule and bring prosperity to all.

Christianity was born and flourished in an empire where the common language was Latin and Greek. Two important people like Paul and Constantine further influenced and were a major part of the development of Christianity. The history of the Jews leading up to the time of Jesus had a major impact on the development of Christianity. “When Christianity was clearly identified as a distant religion, the new religion was considered by its members to be the fulfillment of Judaism rather than a new religion.” “Since Jesus was a Jew and preached to the Jews, Christianity was closely linked to Judaism.” The development of Christianity was due to several historical, political, and social circumstances.

Christianity, the world's largest religion, with over 2 billion followers, about a third of the world's population, was at one point almost completely wiped out, but managed to come back to dominate the ancient world. What began as Judaism in the 1st century AD, Jesus of Bethlehem, the Messiah who performed miracles including walking on water, healing, resurrection, fishing and creating thousands of fish and bread for the people from only a couple and dying for our sins. Christianity took hold of the ancient world because of eternal life, compassion and equality for people.

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.

Constantine’s continuous support for Christianity is one of the reasons that it is still a major religion today. I believe that Constantine was a great ruler because of his dedication to the unity of Christianity. Regardless of the different schisms in the religion, Constantine was determined to make Christianity unified. The Edict of Milan shows that Constantine had respect for other religions and allowed them, but preferred Christianity. It also shows that, even