To understand Roman persecution of Christians, we must first understand the setting and context for which it was in. Romans ruled when Jesus was crucified. The persecutions took place in the first half-century after the crucifixion. At this point in time, the Roman government did not take action against Christians. They always looked at Christianity as an act of Judaism. Since they felt that it was in the same category as Judaism, they felt it was only fair for Christians to have the same religious privileges that the others had. In 64 AD, all of those feelings of toleration went downhill. The great Fire of Rome left half a million people without a home. Rumor had it that the tragedy happened due to a bomb or device that Emperor Nero had …show more content…
Diocletian came along and changed the tune of the story. He tolerated the churches for a little while, until he could not stand it any longer. He then waged what would be the final great persecution. The first stage of his war on Christians was for the Christian churches to be destroyed and for their holy text to be burned. Christians no longer had the rights and freedoms that the laws once gave them. Diocletian then ordered for all clergy members to face incarceration. Diocletian and Galerius teamed together to make things even worse for Christians. They demanded that the Christians give up all they had for universal sacrifice or they would face execution. Diocletian retired after this and Maximus Daia took over rule. He wanted the governors to force all individuals to oblige as a sacrifice to the gods. The Christians faced a brutal attack on their beliefs once more. Around 311 AD, Galerius was struck with a terrible sickness and decided to end the persecutions. He decided that once and for all, Christians would have their legal recognition granted to them. Roman persecution happened not because the Romans were not accepting of new people. It happened because Christianity imposed a threat on Roman’s imperial region. Many other religions made up roman culture during this time. Christians had a mission mindset and wanted to win everyone over for Christ. Pagans believed that Christians participated in magic and superstition. While we hear many reasons and events for Roman persecution, Lactantius, who ruled from 240-320 AD, claimed that the Christians using superstition and magic during Pagan ceremonies caused the beginning of the outbreaks and persecutions of Christians. Although the Romans tried to end Christianity, I believe these series of events only showed the religious strength and made it as powerful and widespread as it is
‘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.
On Doc A, It explains one of the many reasons the Romans persecuted the Christians. “As Christianity spread through the Roman world, some local officials feared that Christians were conspiring against them.” This quote not only shows why the Romans did what they did but it also kind of explains a little bit of background from the Romans side. It also says how there were some rulers that came to see Christianity as a threat to them and of course, they began to persecute the people who practiced it.
According to Burton Leiser subjects shouldn't be punished until proven guilty, claiming that criminals who committed serious crimes “deserve” punishment. Leiser states, “Only the most horrendous offense against the state who seems to deserve the ultimate penalty”. Concluding his argument without giving any justification as to what constitute as a horrendous offense deserving of the death penalty. Bedau, on the other hand, explains retribution, by using Leiser’s argument in a sentence “Some murders seem improperly punished by death at all; other murders would require methods of execution too horrible to inflict; in still other case any possible execution is too deliberate”. The implications doesn’t ask us, to disregard the death penalty, moreover
Christianity was frowned upon by the Romans. The Roman Emperor wanted the people to worship him and the Roman Gods. Christians were blamed for many of the misfortunes that happened in Rome. Due to the belief that Christians were to blame they were ostracized, tortured and even killed.
From the third to the fourth century, the Roman Empire witnessed a widespread attempt to stop the spread of Christianity. Initially, leaders of the church were predominately targeted, but later anyone admitting to Christianity became a target. The persecutions hit a climax during Diocletian’s reign. These persecutions actually helped the spread of Christianity by glorifying Christians and beginning a tradition of martyrdom that shaped the Church, and the strength that Christians displayed shows that the persecutions could not have possible stopped the spread of Christianity.
According to Gaddis (2005) some of the Christians were tortured as well as being burnt alive, while others were publicly executed. Furthermore, it would seem that the more the Romans persecuted them, the more their hatred grew for them, as they believed them to be disobedient and a danger to the Empire. As such they did everything in their power to rid themselves of the Christians. The only consequence for the Christians at this time was, they either obeyed the law by sacrificing to the Pagan Gods or face persecution. However, Gaddis (2005) suggests that some of the Christians looked at the Roman persecution as not so much a Roman persecution, but one from their own God, who was testing their faith so that they could repent for their
Imperial persecution became wholesale throughout the Empire. Initially the Jewish community was the instigators of this persecution of Christians. The book of Acts outlines several incidents involving such persecution. During the decade of 60 A.D., periods of Roman persecution occurred, however this persecution was sporadic. For example, Nero was ruler of the Roman Empire, under his reign Rome was set on fire and burnt to the ground. Christians became the scapegoat for this cowardly act. Tasitus wrote that perhaps Nero himself started the blaze, as an excuse to persecute the Christians. Nero’s acts of persecution were contained within the confines of Rome.
His wish was never granted and the persecution was extremely violent. These Roman emperors caused pain and strife for Christians. Some were ruthless others, not so much. The worst rule was under Diocletian and Nero. However, along with these rough times, peace found them, allowing Christians to catch their breath before it started up again.
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.
1. In what ways does Kübler-Ross believe that our normal experiences with death are different today from those of past generations?
As Christianity was spread throughout Rome, people began to question the teachings of Jesus. Out of fear, officials arrested and killed a multitude of Christians as a result. The everyday plebeian became impressed with these people dying for a belief. Although persecutions became more common, the number of Christians stayed the same and maybe even grew because of the influx of polytheistic Romans converting to the monotheistic religion of Christianity. People were converting quicker than they were being killed off because of the likeable teachings of love, the bravery of these people dying because of what they believed in, and their appealing message to those not in the affluent classes.
Religion in early Rome was considered to be Pagan. Pagan is considered a belief that a person holds that differs from a main world religious views. The Pagan views were not based on any concepts or just one God. Citizens were believing and practicing their beliefs based on rituals, superstitions, and traditions that were obtained through ancestry. They had festivals and sacrificial rituals to please the Gods. In 64 AD Nero prosecuted Christians in Rome because he blamed them for the burning of the Imperial Capital this is called the Great Persecution due to the amount of people who were killed in the process. This made it seem like there were no other religions that citizens could practice this led to them
During the first decades preceding Christ's death, Christians were tolerated but not really liked by the general population of the Roman empire due to their refusal to acknowledge the emperor as a living god. This act of defiance was considered heresy by the state .The real mass persecution of the Christian people came during the reign of the emperor Nero who needed a scapegoat on whom to blame the great fire during his reign.
A few hundred years after the dawn of the Christianity movement during the first century, Christianity was confirmed to be a legal religion in 313 by emperor Constantine I and emperor Licinius. As a result of its legalization, Christians were more noticeable within society. Eventually, Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire in 380 AD under emperor Theodosius I. Its legalization also put an official end to the decades of intense persecution that began in 249 AD under emperor Decius. Unfortunately, by the time the persecution had ceased in 305 AD, the Christians were already facing several internal problems that caused divisions within the community and gave rise to the various schisms. Also, during this time, unification
Martyrs tells us that the earliest persecution came under the rule of Nero in the year 67