Transcript Chapter 5 Ancient Rome and the Rise of Christianity

Chapter 5
Ancient Rome and the Rise of
Christianity
1
Christianity
-Early on in Pax Romana, a new
religion, Christianity emerged
in a distant corner of the
-Romans allowed Jewish
Empire
peopledifferent
to worship
their one
-Many
religions
in the
god
empire
-By
63 B.C.,
had lived
-Many
JewsRomans
reluctantly
conquered
Judea
where
most
under Roman
rule,
however,
Jewish
people lived.
some wanted
a revolt against
Rome and believed a messiah
would come to lead their
people to freedom
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Jesus
-Born in 4 B.C. – 4 A.D in Bethlehem
-worshipped God and followed Jewish law
-at 30 began preaching to villagers, used parables-short
stories with simple moral lessons to communicate his
ideas
-Recruited 12 disciples to help him spread his ideas,
called apostles, in Jerusalem
-Some Jews in Jerusalem welcomed Jesus, many of the
priests felt he threatened their leadership
-Roman authorities felt Jesus would lead the Jews in a
revolt against their rule
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Message of Christ
• Teachings followed those of Moses and were firmly
rooted in Jewish traditions
• Called himself the Son of God
– Mission would spiritual salvation and eternal life to anyone
who believed in him
– Emphasized God’s love and taught the need for justice,
morality and service to others
Death on the Cross
• Christ was betrayed by
Judas
Death of Jesus
-According to the gospels,
Jesus was betrayed by one
of his disciples, arrested by
the Romans, and killed by
crucifixion-a person was
bound to a cross and left to
die
-Rumors then spread that
Jesus had not died but had
risen from death and
commanded his disciples to
spread his teachings
-After the disciples reported
he ascended into heaven
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Christianity Spreads
-Followers called Christians
-Disciples preach the messages
of Christianity throughout the
Roman world
-Peter established Christianity
in Rome itself
He spread Christianity
-Paul played the most
throughout the
influential role in spreading
Mediterranean
Christianity
-His letters became part of
the New Testament in the
Bible
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Jewish Revolt
• 66 AD
– Roman forces crushed the rebellion and burned
Jewish temples in Jerusalem
– Thousand of Jews were enslaved, or killed
– Jews that survived set up many small civilizations
throughout the Med. Sea
Christians Oppressed
-Romans were not tolerant towards Christians
because:
-they refused to honor the emperor with
sacrifices
-they refused to worship Roman gods to
protect the state
-Christians were used as scapegoats, blamed for
social and economic problems
-Many Christians became martyrs- or people who
suffer or die for their beliefs
-However, Christianity continued to spread due to
the fact that all people were welcome
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Work of Paul
• Paul had never seen Jesus
– Among those who persecuted him
– Had a vision in which Jesus spoke to him
– Began to spread the word outside of the Jews faith
– Paul establish many churches through out all of the Empire
– 4 Journeys
• Paul Becomes a martyr when he is killed by Nero (Peter is also
killed by Nero)
Reasons for the Appeal of Christianity
• Jesus welcomed all people
• Added ideas of Plato and other Greek
thinker’s to the teachings of Christ
• The teachings were protected by Rome
Early Christian Church
-Emperor Constantine issued the Edict of Milan in A.D. 313.
-The Edict granted
freedom of
worship to all
citizens of the
Roman empire
-By the end of the century, Emperor Theodosius made
Christianity the official religion of the Roman empire
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Division in the Church
• West vs. East
• Bishops of Rome took the term Pope and claimed
greater authority over all other Bishops
• Greek wanted the 5 patriarchs to share spiritual
authority as equals
• This Developed into the Roman Catholic Church &
Greek Orthodox