Essay on The Spread of Christianity in the Roman Empire

One reason that Christianity took hold in the ancient world was because they spread the message of Jesus through kindness. Evidence of this is, In document F, it talks about how paul spread the word of Jesus during the years of 50 C.E. This evidence helps explain why Christianity took hold because other people saw how kind the where and how much people loved Christianity to spread the message.

Although Christianity was initially practiced within Semitic populations of the Roman Empire, by the 4th century A.D the Christian religion had a huge impact to the Greeks and also the early Byzantine Empire. But by this time Christian communities had been established in all the important cities in the Roman Empire. In 313 the next emperor Constantine legalized Christianity throughout the empire. He also

The rise of Christianity and Islam happened during a turbulent time in history, when major civilizations like the Roman Empire and the Persian Empire were in decline due to political infighting, disease, and outside barbarians constantly applying pressure. Christianity was adopted in the heart of the Roman Empire, as a way to continue the influence of Rome, while not being able to control all of Europe militarily. (Rise of Christianity, 2012) Therefore, early Christianity, as adopted by Rome, was about maintaining influence in the continent through the use of priests and monarchs under a feudalist system of control. The main benefit of Christianity came from its use of Latin and the Bible, a common language across the old Roman Empire, as well as a new technology in books that enabled priests to record extremely deep and convincing stories in an easily index able format. The Roman pagan religion used tablets for its mode of communication, tablets which could not hold very much information at all, and that lost legitimacy compared to the life of Jesus and the depth of the biblical writing style. Christianity rose during an age of danger in Europe, and the feudal system with knights and castles was simply the most beneficial system of governance that humanity had. (Stark, 1996)

How did Christianity become the official religion in Rome? Around the years 123-185 C.E, Rome was a polytheistic empire. Romans had their gods and some foreign ones they adopted. The supreme deity for the Roman empire was Isis, an Egyptian goddess. She demanded complete devotion of her followers. Romans accepted the traditions and religions of the people that came to their lands, but they also had to worship the Roman gods. This was the turning point between the Romans and a religion that arose called Christianity. Christianity started with the leadership of Jesus of Nazareth who was believed to be the son of the Christian God. Christians started to be persecuted in the Roman empire due to their monotheistic belief. They only worshipped one god, the one they referred to as the one True God, the maker of all. Christians were not only hated by the Roman empire but by the Pagans, an anti-Christian group that attacked Christianity, as well. Christians were persecuted, tortured, killed, and dehumanized due to their faith; however, their devotion to their faith, teachings, and miracles changed the hearts and perspectives of many until it became the official religion of the Roman empire at the end of the 4th century C.E.

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.

What were the key social and cultural factors that enabled the Gospel to spread so quickly through the Roman Empire? Using primary and secondary sources, discuss with particular reference to Paul’s writings and the Book of Acts.

The document The Spread of Christianity & Hypatia talked about the major spread of Christianity in many parts in Rome. The start came around the time of the foundation of Rome and a new movement came into Alexandria and many other empires. This movement started the development of Christianity and then the spread of Christianity in Rome. Even though it got recognition in Rome, in the year 249 to 250 AD, everyone was forced to worship the roman god. If they didn’t, the chance of death wasn’t a low chance. At the time, the Church only as one third of the population of the greek speakers and less than 10 percent of the latin speakers. It was until the fourth century where Christianity was being converted in Rome. Even the emperor Constantine

While it is true that there is an overall decline in Christianity and religion in the west, there is a large influx of it in places such as Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Why is this the case? To answer this question, some background information on the spread if Christianity itself is helpful. After the crucifixion and death of Jesus, many of his followers, such as the apostle Peter, went out throughout parts of Europe, Asia, and reportedly parts of Africa to spread the word about him. The Apostle Paul was perhaps the greatest these in his many missionary trips throughout Asia and Europe. While Christianity was heavily persecuted in the Roman Empire under Emperors such as Nero, it managed to spread reasonably well. Christianity was popular

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.

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

Although the Romans persecuted early Christians, Roman roads played a vital role in the spread of Christianity which would eventually spread throughout the Roman

Secondly, the power of the Emperors allowed the Roman Empire to impact on the religion. Almost from the outset, the Roman Empire was a autocracy. The Emperors had absolute power over the citizens. This meant that Emperors could essentially decide the fate of Christianity. The first major persecution of Christianity, under

Ancient Rome’s events led to spread of Christianity around the world. To begin, Rome did not like Christianity until Cincinnatus a well-known and respected leader baptized before his death. This was a great awakening to many Roman’s because they saw Cincinnatus as a role model. Christian leaders in Rome were sent to jail in which they would face death later for not believing in roman gods.

There were many sects of early Christianity, many with conflicting beliefs. But in general, Christianity brought several ethnic groups together and find common ground while the polytheistic system allowed each group to continue their own individual traditions. This meant that as Christianity spread it became the major belief over the variety of polytheistic religions. By the end of the fourth century CE the cities of the Roman Empire were mostly Christian based and it continued to spread to the rest of the

In my Theatre of History class, we briefly discussed Rome and the fall of the Western Roman Empire as it related to theatre but I was intrigued to learn more. It didn’t seem sensible that the fall of the Western Empire would be placed, even a little, on the rise of Christianity during that time. It didn’t seem sensible for two reasons. The first reason is that Jesus Christ, in whom the Christians believed, had been born, lived, and crucified over 400 years before the Empire fell. His lifetime spanned only until the second emperor of the Roman Empire, before Rome’s crooked ways became noticeable and uncontrollable. The second reason is because the Western Roman Empire that fell was officially, as declared by an emperor, a Christian Rome. In this paper I will present and argue the many contributing factors of Rome’s demise, and answer the question was Christianity responsible for the decline of theatre as a practice in the Western Roman Empire and ultimately its fall?